Friday September 23, 2011
Ty and I were up with the sun and drove into Paris by noon. The A6 Toll Road is expensive but there are no speed limits and we often did 180 km/hr. Our rental car was built for it with a 6 speed manual transmission and cruise control!
We dumped our car at the airport and took the train into city centre where we found our hotel just north of the Louvre where Leonardo DaVinci's Mona Lisa and Canova's "Cupid's Kiss" await us tomorrow.
We started walking along the Seine River until we saw the tip of the Eiffel Tower in the distance and of course we didn't stop until we were standing below it. It towers over the whole city and is quite the thing to behold. From there we crossed back over the river, applying lovelocks for our sweethearts
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| Legend has it that if lovers write their initials on a lock and apply it to the Pont de l'Archeveche bridge and throw the key in the river, their hearts will be locked together in love forever. |
and then we walked from the Arch of Triumph down one side of the Champs Eylsees and up the other.
where Ty bought a hoodie and we had genuine French Onion Soup at Le Douville.
I have never particularly cared for this dish in Canada but I thought I'd give it one more try and I must admit, this was very good with a rich spicy gravy, lots of onions, sliced baguette and of course ooey goey cheese baked on top! (In Canada, they make it too salty with soggy croutons!)
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| The Grand Palace |
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| Me at "Le Arc de Triumph" at the head of Champs Elysees |
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| Champs Elysees (looking west) |
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| The Real Deal - French Onion Soup at Le Deuaville's |
We went back out to observe the night life walking for miles past crowded sidewalk restorantes and bars lined up anddown the streets. We dropped down to the esplanade along the Seine River and watched the locals get drunk, among groups of musicians playing drums and saxophones. By midnight we started walking towards the Eiffel Tower and just as we got to it at 1 am, they turned the lights off!
