Home ·· News Room ·· Prints ·· Licensing ·· Gallery ·· About Us ·· Contact Us ·· Articles ·· Services Paris, France trip report, October 13-20, 2003 Updated December 12, 2008 Page 2 of 5 Previous page   Next page
	Paris, France, continued We had to leave our nice hotel and strike out across the city to find some different accommodations near the Eiffel Tower. We used the metro up to the Arc d'Triumph to check that area out in the daylight. It was a mistake not to find a hotel first and drop our packs. We had to haul them up 250+ stairs to the top of the Arc. Aside from that, the views from the top are spectacular. We marched back down, caught the metro back to the Eiffel tower and went to hunt for lodging. Surprise - the hotels listed in the guide books were completely booked. Across the street, we stayed at Hotel Serre, less impressive than our previous hotel. The shower was broken and the neighbors were loud…for 70 Euro ($80US) per night. This was a much older styled Parisian hotel, with the classic dorm room style showers. We cleaned up, dropped our bags and headed out for Musee d'Orsay, a fine art museum located in an old train depot. It wasn't as large as the Louvre, but it would do for the day. We almost missed the premier paintings on the top floor, sections 29-35. This most important section is hidden behind the upstairs café. Don't miss this area! Sadly, Whistler's Mother was in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the time. But we did get to enjoy quite a few Van Gogh pieces. Patty ended up following the lead of a couple other French girls and used the men's restroom, as the line out the women's was a good 10 minutes. Smoked out We left the Orsay and caught the metro back to the Eiffel tower. Wow, up close, that thing is huge. It's 5 Euros ($6US) to ride to the top and must be done. The Restaurant Jacques Cousteau serves dinner for about 70 Euro ($80US) per person. Wow! It's supposedly difficult to get a seat at the restaurant. We walked back to the hotel and sadly discovered that Rue Clare, a famous tourist byway, closed at 8pm. We changed, went to dinner and promptly were literally smoked out of our chairs. It was so bad, we skipped dessert. Blech. We did meet these two nice Irish girls on holiday. Apparently smoking was banned in January 2004 in Ireland. There's already been mass protests. Smoking has to be dying if a European country has banned it. After a smoked out dinner, we went off to the hotel room for sleep. The bed was rough and uncomfortable, the neighbors were terribly loud and Patty couldn't sleep. I slept just fine. Friday, October 17, 2003 Awake at 830am - we're a couple of slugs! The dorm room shower was small, with the toilet right next to it. A little bit different. We finally make the assault on the Eiffel Tower. At the bottom, if the line is to the end of the snaking rail, it will be a 20 minute wait. At the second deck, when the line wraps around the whole floor, you've got an hour to get to the upper elevator. Also pay attention, as the other line might be significantly shorter. We chose the lee side of the elevator, as we were out of the wind. The views up top are to die for. Previous page   Next page
	This site Copyright © 2000-2008 Aaron Linsdau, all rights reserved.