Paris ... day 2

An exhausting day … lots of achievements … culminating with the Eiffel Tower. The plan was to see the sights from the hop-on, hop-off bus. There are 4 different routes, covering many of the top attractions … about 6-7 hours. There’s just so much to see …. so many massive buildings. Traffic is chaotic, especially at the multi-road intersections … reminiscent of Lima, only there’s also lots of scooters weaving their way through the traffic as well. When the lights change the scooters roar off first. So pleased we don’t have a car here. So much easier seeing everything from the top deck of a bus! Noted lots of areas we would like to go back to …. but we’ll probably run out of time … or forget. Thinking of chaotic traffic … imagine the Arc de Triomphe … traffic going round … and one lone Aussie (Chris) dodging traffic to cross the road …. finding out later from his mates about the pedestrian tunnel… we had to laugh)
We hopped off the bus for lunch on the left bank, and wandered into several small lanes with many amazing eateries … another lucky find. Delicious too.
Our other mission for the day was to find a Tourist Info Centre and hatch some plans for the days between Paris and Beaune, where we’re booked in for a week. That turned out to be more difficult. (We had similar problems in Hamburg as well.) Found a small one with info about Paris only… and we were told they don’t have them here … maybe another language barrier. Today, I was having trouble with the railway ticketing machine recognising my VALID 3 day pass. After several unsuccessful attempts, I buzzed someone on a nearby intercom, explaining my predicament. A voice came back with, “I don’t speak any English.” and in my frustration, I yelled back, “and I don’t speak any French!!!” Stalemate!!!
The weather on our first day was quite warm, so I dressed accordingly … even wearing sandals for a day on the bus. Not to be … the day turned cool, windy and at times, overcast. So when the bus came close to ‘home’, we detoured for a change of clothes, then back to try to catch the last bus by 7.30pm. We made it … and were happily on the top deck of a bus when it started to rain. Great sight … Lex and I huddled up close to the large front windscreen, trying to keep dry (no ponchos as we’d discarded them to make room earlier). By the time we decided to call it quits and retreat to the lower deck … there was no room. Eventually, the bus pulled up, along the Champs-Elysees … finish for the day. Nobody moved … they weren’t getting off into the rain.
We braved it … after all Lex had wanted to walk the Champs-Elysees … where the cyclists ride on the final day of the Tour de France. Then up to the Arc de Triomphe …. another huge impressive structure. Still raining. We had heard that the best time to go up the Eiffel Tower is early evening (we had decided that anytime the queues were short enough would be a good time) so we headed off in that direction … walking … in the rain.
Couldn’t believe it … lots of people everywhere (also braving the blustery conditions) but hardly any line-up. So we were off. We got inside and still had to wait for a lift to come down … I can’t imagine how it operates when the queues are enormous. There doesn’t appear to be any limit on how long you can stay up there … but numbers going up must be limited by numbers coming down. (We went back again the next day for a look around …. HUGE queue areas near 3 of the pillars)
The experience was breath-taking …. views may not have been as spectacular as clear conditions, but the blustery conditions added to it as well. The top viewing gallery is enclosed, and above that there’s another area which is open to the elements. At 274 metres … it was amazing.
Next question…. How to get home??? Followed the crowd … found a metro station … and a very helpful attendant who told us which lines and where to change. Eleven thirty pm and we were back near home. Awesome. Also no problems finding a place to have dinner at that time of night either. What a day!!!