#group tour

[lasvegasoutdooradventure]

Valley of Fire at sunset

[miyoshiiwasawa]

Ljubljana, Slovenia  2007

[thestarfishdancer]

L’Arche de Triomphe

The whirlwind of activity has continued, this time over two days of sightseeing in Paris. Though I’ve been before, it was nice to have several stops focused on historic highlights. The problem is, perhaps, that Paris has so many of them!

We started yesterday with a stop at Napoleon’s Arche de Triomphe (there are others, but his is the most famous), which dad and I had driven by 14 years ago but not actually stopped to see. There is a tunnel leading to it, so no one has to navigate their way through the insanity of a French traffic circle/roundabout with many lanes and none of them marked. Very smart to do for sure! Then it was the obelisk and nearby fountains for pictures, before stopping for lunch and free time near the Eiffel tower. Though I would like to go up one day, I’ll have to inclined to queue for several hours first. Still, she is lovely from the ground up.

One of the fountain nymphs near the obelisk

Eiffel Tower by Day

After lunch, it was a tour of Versailles, which is beautiful and yet so ostentatious. It’s incredible, but it certainly did nothing for the poor but make them poorer. I can certainly see how that kind of living would lead to a revolution, and it couldn’t help but resonate with the tongue-in-cheek “Eat the rich!” slogan I’ve seen on the internet in these days where a handful of people own 99% of the world’s wealth.

Versailles gate

Versailles – wall and ceiling detail

Versailles – room detail

Versailles – parietal view of gardens

Versailles – Ceiling detail

Versailles – hall detail

Versailles

Versailles – Queen’s Room

Cathy, Jhoy, Yvonne, Payton and I stuck together for dinner at a cafe where we ate happy hour appetizers, two orders were forgotten, and it took a lifetime to flag down the bill. Then it was off to do a Paris by night tour. Yes, I did stay up past my bedtime – and perhaps past when it was smart for someone attempting to cough up her lungs on the regular – but it was so worth it. I could have done without the “last ten minutes of Princess Diana’s life” part (a bit tacky, I think, but haven’t quite the courage to say), but the rest was glorious. The tower at Montparnasse, with the city panorama, was one highlight, but the light show at the Eiffel Tower from Trocadero was amazing. Pictures don’t do it justice, as the sparkling lights flicking rapidly like it’s a sparkler.

Eiffel Tower from Montparnasse

Eiffel Tower Light Show

It was back to the hotel after that, at about 11:30 by that time. I did not get to sleep in, however; this morning was likely my only chance to do laundry, so I got up at six to be dressed and ready to trek to the laundromat for its’ seven o’clock opening. It was extra fingers crossed, as All Saints Day is a holiday here, and the short walk felt long in the semi-pouring rain. It seems the door unlocks automatically, though, and even though I stood in the rain a few minutes longer than I had to before figuring out the door was open (and a push, not pull), I will have clean clothes for the next segment of my adventure.

Canal tour – a couple under an umbrella as we pass under the bridge

This is all I saw of the statue of liberty, after staying out in the wind and rain to take her picture.

Today was a little slower, which was good. The rain had lightened up for the canal cruise, so I stayed on the open top to try to get better pictures. My coat is warm, but not waterproof, but since it is wool, it help up just fine, as did I. I wanted to get a picture of Statue of Liberty so held out to the end… only to have the boat turn around before we got more than a distance glimpse of her.

Mona Lisa, or La Jaconde, at the Louvre. I love this painting.

After that, it was the Louvre. It is as impressive as I remember, and I’d like to spend more time there, but I was also glad to leave. It’s much busier than the Musee D’Orsay, which makes it louder and crowded. Also, I got a little lost twice inside and then went out the wrong exit on the way out. I was a little late for meeting up with my group, which I feel badly about, but thankfully the man selling chestnuts helpfully pointed me in the right direction and I managed to be close to on time.

After that, it was free time near the Galleries de Lafayette for shopping. I helped Payton and Jhoy with some spice purchasing (translating the little signs so they could make decisions), but the five of us were pretty toured out by that point, so we found a cafe and had desserts and/or wine instead of shopping. We took pictures of the Opera House while it was still light, but then made our way back to the bus where we said goodbye. I’m the only one of us continuing on to another line. We’ll be keeping in touch, though. And of course, Yvonne and Payton are going to climb Arthur’s Seat with me when I’m in Edinburgh.

I’m now back in my hotel room for the night, getting ready to head to bed. It’s an earlier call tomorrow, as I’m off to Switzerland, then Italy, then Monaco before looping back to Paris next week. I foresee some bus naps for me tomorrow!

      EU Go, Girl! Adventures in Europe #6 The whirlwind of activity has continued, this time over two days of sightseeing in Paris. Though I've been before, it was nice to have several stops focused on historic highlights.

[lasvegasoutdooradventure]

Fire Wave at Valley of Fire

[thestarfishdancer]

Back in Paris, in my budget hotel, and thinking that this is a nicer budget hotel than my last budget hotel. I’m in an Ibis, and though like all other places I’ve stayed in Paris, the room is small, I think this one is slightly bigger – or at least better laid out – than at the other hotel I booked, and though it is a little more out of the way, I’m still rather pleased with my choice on booking.com. The Ibis Place d’Italie Butte aux Cailles has a comfy bed, a clean room, and feels nice in general. Now if only my cold will let me get some decent sleep, because this room is certainly appointed for it!

The past three days have been two hectic days of sight-seeing, followed by one quieter day just bussing back to Paris. The first day started early in Rome, with an excellent city guide, Vito. We went to the colosseum, but only to the outside, which was fine by me – I’ve already been inside, and the outside is the most interesting part. Vito talked about how the colloseum would have looked like back in the day, and how it worked, and then it was on to more sights, such as through the Pantheon, the church we’d seen in Angels and Demons, and the Castle of the Angels as well.  We also stopped by the Trevi fountain, which I love. I threw another coin in, hoping to lead me back again. And then I ate delicious gelato.

Trevi fountain

From there, we walked toward the Vatican, where we had lunch nearby. I had another plain margarita pizza at a cafe, since I was feeling like something plain, but had learned from Vito that the pizza had been made for the queen Margarita back in the day, because she loved cheese. Pizza had had only tomato on bread, but a cook added cheese because she loved it, and basil, so between the red, green, and white, it is like the Italian flag. Also, I do love a good margarita pizza.

After lunch, we toured through the Vatican museum, then into the Sistine Chapel. You can’t take pictures, because it is a chapel they want to respect, but I truly gained a new appreciation for it. There were pieces, earlier in the museum, that looked like they were carved into the marble when really they were painted, the 3D look an amazing bit of genius, and for the first time I saw that in the chapel, how the painting, when looked at from the right places looms away from the wall, as though statues and not flat paint. I’ve never been able to see those 3D images in those old pictures that were trendy in the 90s, but I saw it here, as though my eyes were finally able to shift from their stringent focus.

After that, it was into St. Peter’s Basilica. I looked for a place to light a candle for my Nana, but there wasn’t one. I didn’t miss it – I asked one of the staff members. They don’t do that in St. Peter’s. Then it was on to Arezzo for the night, and we were all glad – we walked about 12 kilometres!

  A perfect copy of Michaelangelo’s David.

The next day was more Italy. Florence was lovely, though rainy. My shoes soaked through (I’d brought a spare pair to throw away for Venice in case they got wet and uncomfortable there, as an alternate to heavy boots) but it was nice nonetheless. We saw some historical highlights, like the copy of the statue of David and other originals in an outdoors sort of museum, went to a leather factory, then had a Florentine menu with an enormous 2 kg steak (shared by four people, but still a massive amount of meat!). We also went to see the Leaning Tower in Pisa after that, where I did not spent 18 euros to go in and walk up seven flights of stairs, but I did watch about 7 hundred tourists take the “pushing the tower” selfie.

      A view of Monaco.

Overnight we were near Genoa, then into France the next day. Our Monaco stop was unfortunately a no-go; the roads that could support our bus were all closed, with only the roads open to vehicles at 7.5 tonnes open for access into the country. Disappointing, but no one’s fault, and certainly not going was better than collapsing a road.

    My sea glass finds!

  Instead, we spend a little extra time at the Fragonard Perfume factory, where I learned more about perfume and may have made a couple of purchases. Then we went to Nice, where I had a nice lunch, before spending some time on the beach, listening to the waves and then combing through the rocks when I realized there were bits of sea glass in it.

  After Nice, it was on to Cannes, where we made a red carpet stop. It was raining in Cannes, so I was glad of the relatively short stop (about 45 minutes to an hour, I cannot remember). I got my silly red carpet photo, checked out the handprints of the movies stars, and walked along the harbour to look at rich people’s yachts. Then it was onto the bus, and to the hotel for the night.

  I wasn’t really red carpet ready – see hiking boots in place of Jimmy Choo shoes. 

As today was all bus, stopping only at the gas stations to use the bathrooms and get some food (gas station food in Europe is pretty nice, actually). I napped a little and watched the movies Tim put on for us. Then it was off the bus, saying our goodbyes, and on to my hotel for the next few nights.

I’m looking forward to doing laundry tomorrow, believe it or not. Several days on the move has meant I’m nearly out of clean clothes, but that will not be an issue after tomorrow! Not sure what tomorrow afternoon will bring, but I am thinking I might go to the aquarium, since I just learned Paris has one, and I love aquariums!

EU Go, Girl! Adventures in Europe: Part # 8 Back in Paris, in my budget hotel, and thinking that this is a nicer budget hotel than my last budget hotel.

[bunniktoursau]

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[quietwest-blogs]

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[quietwest-blogs]

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