I had to drop off some recycling which we did and we decided to have a quick bite to eat at the local Trieber cafe. It's one of my favorite places to go to get a quick breakfast. We had orange juice (in boxes) and I had an apple pastry (which is to die for and I can't seem to try anything else...and it all looks wonderful)! Ted had a sandwich and a chocolate croissant (he's a growing boy, you know). The sandwich had this sausage meatball which was quite good (he gave me a bite to taste). After eating, we were on our way.
The GPS lady said there was traffic and we were re-routed. It would be almost four hours before we reached the border. It should have only taken an hour and a half!! We were none to happy since that meant more time in the car than we had anticipated and less time sight seeing.
In case you are wondering where we are going. We are going to Paris! Ted says it's the honeymoon we never had. I don't know about that, but it should be interesting.
We brought along our passports JUST IN CASE, but it turns out as long as you are traveling in the European Union, you don't need them. We never showed them to anyone! But I'm glad we had them nonetheless. As we travel over a bridge, we find ourselves in Strasbourg, France. It appears there are combination French and German signs along the way. The buildings however, have changed somewhat to decidedly French-looking buildings. We had put an interim stop in GPS for a gas station. As Julie got us to the gas station, the GPS eliminated that interim stop and put us on track to get to Paris. We would have liked to linger in Strasbourg but it's really late and we know we have about 500 more kilometers to go. UGH!
We are traveling along the A4 and the signs are well-marked for Paris. I can actually read (AND understand) some of the road signs!! We are somewhat dismayed that there is toll booth after toll booth. There were six in all, which means there will be six on the way back too. Julie is falling down on the job because she never mentioned this road was a toll road!! The total cost of the tolls 34.1 Euro which is about $45! Neither of us could believe the number of tolls OR the amount for each toll and they were ALL different. They ranged from 2 Euro all the way up to almost 13 Euro. I wish I would have checked the trains or even a plane trip. It couldn't have cost too much more AND we would have been there sooner!
We stopped at one of the many service stations along the way, not to buy gas because we had a full tank. We will have to buy some gas in France on the way back because the tank wouldn't be enough to get us across the border and the ability to use the gas card which allows us to pay for gas on the US economy and not the European economy. But we'll have to bite the bullet and pay for a few liters on the economy.
They have the service stops like you would see on the turnpikes in the States. But that's where the similarity ends. The food was terrific! We had fresh roasted chicken sandwiches on french baguettes that were made on site! You wouldn't find that in the states on the turnpike! You'd be lucky if you could find a Panera Bread at one! Ted wanted to compare a chocolate croissant to the one he always gets at Trieber. He said the pastry was flakier but Trieber puts more chocolate inside. In his opinion, the pastry is just a conduit for the chocolate! LOL!
As we continue our journey, Julie Andrews continues to give us directions but we both are mad at her for detouring us that many hours! We were supposed to be in Paris by 3 but at this rate, we won't get there until 7!!
As I look out the window, the terrain changed quite a bit from Germany to France. France is more rolling meadows with less trees and not as green as Germany. There are few towns between the border and Paris on the A4 so there's not much to look at. Interestingly, half way there, there are these big balls on the side of the road. I wondered what they were for. They are painted various colors. As we travel a little ways more, there are other geometric shapes: pyramids, cubes, flat triangles and flat rectangles in various designs. I finally figure out, it's art work!! As we continue one, one wonders what the next artwork is going to be and what colors they will use. It's the only thing worth looking at because there is farm upon farm upon farm.
We did see a few cows. They looked bleached. Ted seemed to think it had to do with their diet. They reminded me of the skinny cows my mom and I saw in Florida when we went to see her sister. I didn't realize that there would be so few towns between the border and Paris. On that 500 kilometer stretch, I would say there were a total of six towns. Not much when you consider the distances between.
We are about 20 kilometers from Paris and it still looks like farm land. I was amazed that it could still look like that. Now we're within 8 kilometers of Paris and we're starting to see industrial complexes. We finally hit the city and follow Julie's directions to get us to our hotel.
We can't believe how crazy the drivers, cyclists and the pedestrians are here. The pedestrians just walk. And apparently, according to my travel guide, you only have to miss someone by less than a meter!! That means that taxi driver can come within feet of you, whizzing by and you can't say a word! The book also says to not change your pace or stop on the street. I won't be walking anywhere unless there's a green little man on the pole on the opposite corner. Ted does like the miniature traffic lights that are about chest high on each traffic pole. They are much easier to see.
As we go down the street, there are rows and rows and rows of grey bicycles that are attached to pole-like structures. Apparently, you put a coin in the box and the bicycle is released (like a smart cart at the airport) and you can ride it all over the city and then return it where ever there's a spot for them and they are all over the place!
Ted booked us a room at a Holiday Inn on Price line. I wanted a French place but everything was booked. Apparently, Thursday and Friday were German holidays too so many Germans flocked to Paris! And so did a number of Ted's co-workers. One of his co-workers wanted to hang with us but Ted explained that this was the honeymoon we never had. So he backed off. Any other time I wouldn't have minded but this was a special occasion.
We get to our hotel and it looks OK but it doesn't look like it's in a super nice part of town not to mention it doesn't look like it's close to any of the sites. And it isn't. Oh well. That's what happens when you can't plan in advance. My dear, dear husband is wonderful but he likes to fly by the seat of his pants and I like to plan. It can be tricky at times! LOL!
We ask about parking because there are no spots on the street. They have underground parking. Great. How do we get there? The clerk speaks fairly good English and says he has to re-do the keys to allow us entrance to the parking facility. We didn't think anything of that. He tells us we have to drive around the block because the entrance is on the other side of the building. I re-affirm that the parking is under the hotel. We drive around the building and see a sign that says Holiday Inn Parking. But it looks like a vacant lot. What's up with that? So we drive around the block again. Ted says it HAS to be it because he needs his key to open the gate. There is no paved driveway, it's pebbles and trees. I can't imagine this is where we're supposed to park! Not only that, but I can't imagine trying to park in this facility in the rainy season!! It would be all mud!
We drive around the side of the building and there's the door to the parking garage. It's down a short, steep ramp. He has to put his card in another card reader to open the door. The door opens from the bottom up, like the old fashioned doors. It's only one door and the opening is very small. It's a GOOD thing we no longer have the EOS! We would be extremely hard-pressed to get that car in this tight space. The VW Golf barely makes it. We go down one level and there are two cars parked and it looks like there's room for two more. Hooray! I tell Ted, it's probably a good idea to back in so that when it's time to leave, we can easily leave. I wonder about leaving too. How does that work? Is there another way out? We'll have to ask about that. We were not about to go down into the bowels of this building just to check it out. Ted parks and then wonders if it's a handicap parking. It's not well lit so I couldn't tell. He pulls out and sure enough, it's a handicapped space. Perhaps the one next to it isn't. It's not so we park there and get our gear out of the car. We need the card key to get into the building at this level. There are very few lights in this hallway to the elevator. Ted is not happy about that! So we hold the door open as best as we can until we get the button pushed for the elevator. It takes us up to the 5th floor to our room.
Luckily we arranged for a non-smoking room. It's a largish room and the beds look comfortable (twins because that's all they had available) and there's a third bed in the corner. Good thing Ted's co-worker didn't ask to stay with us! LOL! The bathroom is OK but it looks like Ted and I both will have to JUMP to get into the tub to use the shower. There's a long narrow table attached to the wall (I guess this hotel is used for business travelers) and a very small round table with the most uncomfortable, hard wooden chairs I ever sat on. There's a fridge with a TV on top and there's a safe in the closet. I'm happy we didn't bring anything too valuable with us!
Ted says, we only have a day to see the city and we should try to see the Eiffel tower and go get some dinner nearby at some restaurant. We have the clerk call us a cab because we have NO idea where we are even with a map. The city is laid out in a circle starting at point zero in front of Notre Dame. Here's a photo of that point.
They refer to the different areas by 1eme, 2eme etc. The map we have shows the eme's (whatever those are) so you can judge where you are in relation to the different sites.
The taxi driver took us along a street where there was train station above us, like the "L" in Chicago. There is one cafe after another. As we round the corner, I was more worried about us hitting pedestrians than looking out the window. A policeman stopped our cabbie and said he would have to park in the correct place for a cabbie. Up on the curb he goes just to get that car in a somewhat good location to allow us to disembark. It isn't until we get out that I see the Eiffel Tower. It is an awesome sight!
Ted is somewhat disappointed. He thought it would be different. He thought it should be painted! I, on the other hand, marvel at the workmanship of this tower. When one considers it was built in 1889, and the engineering that would have gone into building it would have been amazing and state of the art at that time. I try to explain that to Ted but he is still disappointed. He had high expectations, where I never do because I don't like to be disappointed. And I'm usually not disappointed!
There is a vast area of concrete under the Eiffel Tower with a park-like area in front of it and to the sides of it in the front. We were told that it's beautiful at night. It's only about 8pm now so it's not dark enough for the lights to come on. So off we go to one of the cafes we passed when we were in the taxi.
There are people from every nation here and a cacophony of languages fill the air. The area itself is a bit dirtier (papers and garbage and such) than I expected and there are hordes of people every where. It's a bit tawdry too. The various people hawking miniature replicas of the Eiffel tower in silver and gold and some that light up. There is shop after shop of souvenirs. No wonder the Parisienne disdain foreigners! But then again, those same foreigners provide livelihood for many, many people. It's a beautiful piece of architecture spoiled by all of the commercialism.
As we walk towards one of the cafes, I hear a woman talking in English (American) about the tower and how much prettier it is at night. We got to talking to them and it turns out, they have been living in Frankfurt for the past four years and own a home in Laguna Beach! What an incredibly small world! She said we would love Germany and that she only learned the basic phrases to get by because everyone speaks English. I think that's a shame because one should try to learn the language and I will try to learn it, if for no other reason than to satisfy me.
My travel book tells us that it's best to get the three or four course meal because it's cheaper than buying alla carte. We get a table inside because all of the outdoor tables are taken. By the time we finish our meal (which was OK - it appeared to cater to Americans) but we didn't know that. We really wanted to taste true Parisienne fare and this was not it.
During dinner we got a call from Ted's co-worker. They were at the tower and wanted to meet up with us. As we walked back to the tower, we could see the tower between the buildings as we walked along. And the lady from Laguna Beach is right, it IS prettier at night!
It's after 10pm and there are scores of people still walking around. There is a phone conversation between Ted and his co-worker. How in the WORLD are we going to catch up with them in this crowd. I try to tell Ted to count the number of street lamps and tell them where we are in relation to the street lamps but of course, he wasn't' listening. Instead, they kept telling him there's a big white truck right where they are. We don't see any big white truck, all of the grassy areas are fenced in! There is very wide pebble covered walk way on each side of these fenced in areas. And there are two walk ways traversing those fenced in areas. He continues to talk on the phone as we walk. I find a park bench and do some people watching.
There was a black man who told his daughter something. (It was a strange language...it could have been Swahili or something like that). When she didn't listen to him, he grabbed her and gave her what for. Some of the people were not happy with him but they didn't interfere. And she never once shed a tear. That would NOT have happened in the US. He would have been arrested for child abuse!!
As I sat there waiting for this "meeting" to take place, I heard singing coming from the side of the park. I had seen a number of young men in black suits and there may have been candles. I thought they probably must be Jewish or something. I couldn't tell for sure.
Finally Ted's co-worker saw him waving his arm. (He looked a little silly - but I wasn't going to say anything, this was his deal). I was introduced to two of the several interns and the project manager and his wife along with James, the co-worker who wanted to hang with us. They still had not had dinner and wanted to eat. And we were ready to go back to the hotel and call it a day. They asked what we would be doing tomorrow and we said there were a few places we wanted to see and we thought we would have enough time to see them.
As we parted ways, we started to walk. We didn't see a cab in sight. Ted got the GPS out (it can function on battery) Great! As he calculated the distance between where we were and where the hotel was, it was 2.3 kilometers. He seemed to think we could walk it and since most of the streets were main streets. As we walked, I realized that during the day the city is not all that scary but at night it appeared to be more sinister. We followed the GPS but it kept getting stuck because we were walking too slow. As we turned corners, there was cafe after cafe with people sitting in front of them and it's after 11:30!!
As we walked along, I was thankful I still couldn't smell because of the sinus stuff. Like Italy, the men in France urinate on building walls, ledges and in the corners. I'd forgotten how disgusting that can be. Oh well. We keep walking. Unfortunately, the GPS runs out of battery...now what to do. We have NO idea where we are and there's no one around to ask. There was a pay phone but it took a credit card and I wasn't doing that.
We continue to the end of the street and turn right. Doggone it...there's the Eiffel Tower. We've just walked more than a mile and in a big circle. By now, it's 12:30pm and I'm so mad at Ted for suggesting to walk that I can't even see straight! So we head towards a cafe where there has to be a taxi. We finally find one and he takes us back to the hotel. It takes literally minutes! By the time we reach the hotel and get into our room, it's 1am. I'm exhausted and my feet are killing me and I'm sure Ted's are too only he never complains. That's just him.
It was a rather warm and humid night out tonight. We don't have air so we open the window to get some air into the room. For some reason the humidity and the night starts to make me cough. I cough so much and so hard that I get a sick stomach. Ted is so worried that he wants to bag the trip and go home tomorrow.
After that 9 hour car trip, I was NOT about to turn around and go home without visiting the few sites that I wanted to see. No way.
I finally fell asleep after taking a few Rolaids to stem the acid.
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