From Notre Dame to the Tour Eiffel
OK, so anybody who has been interested thus far, I shall continue with the Parisian saga.
The descent from the Bell Tower was obviously a lot bloody easier than going up. We had a quick look inside Notre Dame but we were being bailed up left right and centre by people from the Christian festival. C was listening only to the pretty girls trying to convert him, selective Christianity.
So, time to move on to the Eiffel Tower. Back onto the red double-decker bus we go. All the way around Paris again. Then our bus stops, for a long time....in sight of the Eiffel Tower. We sat there for so long that eventually we said, right, we're off mate and walked down through the area with all the gold statues (I'm not sure what that area is called) and watched some kids do great tricks on skateboards on the stairs.
Finally we get underneath the tower, and we are just dying to go to the toilet. So we stand in a queue for 20 minutes. C went straight into the mens - why are there never lines in men's toilets?? Then we start queuing to go up the Eiffel Tower. We were very good at queuing by the time we left Europe.
C was so disappointed because he was dying to climb the stairs to the first and second levels, but the queue to do that closed as it was nearing dusk.
So we queued for an hour-and-a-half and eventually got to go up just as it was getting dark. At least we were being entertained by the police chasing the hawkers away on bicycles and by foot. There is no way I would be a hawker there - those police carry machine guns!!! Once on top of the tower, up a bizarre diagonal elevator I was quite scared, I couldn't go near the edge, particularly on the platform that was open to the wind. It was very beautiful. They started the flashing lights on the tower while we were up there. We could see a soccer match that was being played beneath us, the players looked so tiny, like toys.
We decided that all that queuing had made us hungry so we try to get into the cafe at the Tower. The maitre'd looked us up and down and said they were full. I hate that. Its like being told by a bouncer at a nightclub that it's "Member's Night". Aaargh. Haven't these French people seen Pretty Woman? We had money to spend! So what if we looked a little bedraggled - we had been queuing all day! I also had very festive ornate stripey socks on so maybe that had something to do with it. Sock discrimination. There should be a law against it.
So, sighing, we went down resolving to get dinner elsewhere. C & I have a thing with landmark kissing. We have a big smooch whenever we are near a landmark. So when we see the landmark on TV we have memories - aint that sweet?? So we had a big smooch and decided that we were going to do a waltz underneath the Tower, you know, trying to be romantic and that. C & I belong to an Irish Set Dancing gang, so if anyone out there knows what "Round the House" is, we were doing it. It was going very nicely when the hawkers starting putting plastic Eiffel Towers and roses in front of us - how damn annoying!!
We ended getting felafel and shawarma at a very authentic looking Arab place - lots of Arab guys smoking and playing dominoes - the real deal!
Hey, tomorrow I might get to the Mona Lisa story!
The descent from the Bell Tower was obviously a lot bloody easier than going up. We had a quick look inside Notre Dame but we were being bailed up left right and centre by people from the Christian festival. C was listening only to the pretty girls trying to convert him, selective Christianity.
So, time to move on to the Eiffel Tower. Back onto the red double-decker bus we go. All the way around Paris again. Then our bus stops, for a long time....in sight of the Eiffel Tower. We sat there for so long that eventually we said, right, we're off mate and walked down through the area with all the gold statues (I'm not sure what that area is called) and watched some kids do great tricks on skateboards on the stairs.
Finally we get underneath the tower, and we are just dying to go to the toilet. So we stand in a queue for 20 minutes. C went straight into the mens - why are there never lines in men's toilets?? Then we start queuing to go up the Eiffel Tower. We were very good at queuing by the time we left Europe.
C was so disappointed because he was dying to climb the stairs to the first and second levels, but the queue to do that closed as it was nearing dusk.
So we queued for an hour-and-a-half and eventually got to go up just as it was getting dark. At least we were being entertained by the police chasing the hawkers away on bicycles and by foot. There is no way I would be a hawker there - those police carry machine guns!!! Once on top of the tower, up a bizarre diagonal elevator I was quite scared, I couldn't go near the edge, particularly on the platform that was open to the wind. It was very beautiful. They started the flashing lights on the tower while we were up there. We could see a soccer match that was being played beneath us, the players looked so tiny, like toys.
We decided that all that queuing had made us hungry so we try to get into the cafe at the Tower. The maitre'd looked us up and down and said they were full. I hate that. Its like being told by a bouncer at a nightclub that it's "Member's Night". Aaargh. Haven't these French people seen Pretty Woman? We had money to spend! So what if we looked a little bedraggled - we had been queuing all day! I also had very festive ornate stripey socks on so maybe that had something to do with it. Sock discrimination. There should be a law against it.
So, sighing, we went down resolving to get dinner elsewhere. C & I have a thing with landmark kissing. We have a big smooch whenever we are near a landmark. So when we see the landmark on TV we have memories - aint that sweet?? So we had a big smooch and decided that we were going to do a waltz underneath the Tower, you know, trying to be romantic and that. C & I belong to an Irish Set Dancing gang, so if anyone out there knows what "Round the House" is, we were doing it. It was going very nicely when the hawkers starting putting plastic Eiffel Towers and roses in front of us - how damn annoying!!
We ended getting felafel and shawarma at a very authentic looking Arab place - lots of Arab guys smoking and playing dominoes - the real deal!
Hey, tomorrow I might get to the Mona Lisa story!
posted by Cathy at 8:37 pm
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