21 Adventerous Days in Europe on a
Rick Steves Tour
Europe Bound!
We left Beaune this morning and started on our way to our final city - Paris. I had conflicted feelings for obvious reasons: the tour was coming to an end, this trip was almost over, etc. But I also felt conflicted for less obvious reasons. Paris was a city I wanted to go to since I was a little girl; in college, Italy primarily occupied my mind. Now the last city I was to visit was Paris. Would it be clichèd? Would I be overwhelmed? Would it live up to my expectations?
My wow moment for the day was seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time in person. Growing up I had posters and pictures of the Eiffel Tower but finally I was seeing it for real. When we sat eating our picnic lunch I couldn't believe that it was right in front of me. Too good to be true!
France
Beaune to Paris
May 23, 2013
Tour Day 19
Wow Moment
Food
We picked up a couple of baguette sandwiches and a couple of desserts to go. My favorite dessert was a raspberry napoleon of sorts. It had alternating layers of crème and crust, topped with fresh raspberries and little golden dew drops of something edible and delicious. I loved it!
For dinner I enjoyed roasted chicken with mashed potatoes. We shared a nutella and banana crepe for dessert.
Travel Tip
This is a strange tip but something I thought some would appreciate. All the toilets are different in Europe. Some have buttons on top to flush, some have chains you pull, some have self cleaning and rotating toilet seats. It was very interesting to see the variety. Besides at your hotel and restaurant you eat at, most toilets cost money - and the prices vary. Most of the time you’re going to want a few coins. Sometimes at a rest stop when you pay to use the restroom you will receive a coupon for the gas station to buy something, which was a fun way to sample lots of chocolate throughout Europe.
As we drove into Paris we hit a traffic jam and it was interesting to see the “city” side of the City of Light- graffiti, congested freeways, etc. We said au revoir to Ben as he dropped us off in Paris. We made our way to our hotel and settled in for a moment.
We were on our own for lunch so Mike and I walked one street over to the Rue Cler and purchased some sandwiches and pastries to go. Then we walked towards the the Eiffel Tower (talk about prioritizing!). It was actually quite an exciting walk because any minute the Eiffel Tower might pop in our view. Finally, we could see it. It was awesome. Our view of the tower was outlined with a beautiful green path, lush green bushes, and purple blossoms. It was a soft setting against the beauty of the tower. We sat on a bench with this view and ate our food.
Afterwards, we met back up with the group where Reid gave us a metro riding lesson, and then we headed off to the Notre Dame.
Shortly, before we reached the Notre Dame, Reid worked his magic and got us in for a quick visit to the Deportation Memorial. It was a stark WWII monument close to the water level. It was a reminder again of the atrocities that took place. It has been a really interesting experience to learn of WWII all throughout Europe.
We eventually made it to Notre Dame. When I first walked in, there was really beautiful classical music playing with beautiful vocals. That, combined with the vaulted ceilings and stained glass, made me feel like I was in heaven.
Next we made our way to the Sainte Chapelle- talk about heavenly! This building was breathtaking. When entering the Sainte Chapelle we walked up a few dark steps into a room composed primarily of tall, stained glass windows. Stained glass composed my 360 view. It was amazing. I did my darndest to capture the beauty with little luck, so I just let it soak it.
Our last stop was to ride up the Eiffel Tower. We were unable to purchase tickets before hand (which in Rick Steves' book is a no- no) because we were not sure when we would be able to go. Rick Steves also says if you haven’t purchased tickets, and you still want to try and go up, to go later in the evening and go if it rains. Well lucky for us it was about 9 pm and it was raining. We made our way to the base of the tower and to our delight there was no line. Literally- no line. Considering the line to buy tickets is typically as long as a Disneyland ride, we were pretty excited. Luck was on our side.
Funny Moment- On our way to the Eiffel Tower we saw a lady ahead of us walking three dogs that were wandering around (just moments before we were commenting on how well trained all the dogs seem). All of a sudden one of the smaller dogs jumps up over a pretty tall fence and takes off. The lady while holding onto the other dogs yelled “Ottie! Ottie!” We came over and asked if she needed help and she responded “do you speaking Chinese?” I was surprised because I found this to be an odd question under the circumstances. I said we didn’t but we were happy to help if she needed. She nodded. First I tried to get the dog with a surprisingly high vertical, with no success. It was difficult - he kept hopping over fences I wouldn’t even suspect a big dog to be able to jump. We switched places and held her dogs while she went after the other. After a minute she was able to get her dog back. It was a very funny experience.
Well, we headed up the elevator taking in each new view of the city. Eventually we made it to the top and were mesmerized. Paris really is the city of light - it was beautiful. We saw views of the river and all the bridges lit up. We saw the Arc de Triomphe and Napoleon’s Tomb. Paris was living up to my expectations and it exceeded anything clichéd.
