Quick trip to Paris – part 1

I made it!

Okay, let me give you a bit of background here. I’d never been to Paris even though it’s only a 3-hour train ride from Basel. I mean – come on! I’d been to France before on several trips and I love the Alsace region, but Paris … nope, I just wasn’t really too interested. Then, people started posting about Paris all around me. Even in the break room people were talking about Paris in the spring. So, I finally said ENOUGH!, bought the tickets and went.

It was really a spur of the moment kind of thing. I did no prepare other then buying a city guide that I looked at on the train for the first time. Oh, and I did get a ticket for the special van Gogh exhibit at the Musée d’Orsay. I also booked a random hotel. Really random. It looked nice and it was a bit away from all the main tourist spots yet very close to the Eiffel Tower.

When I finally made it to my hotel room on Thursday night it was *checks phone* 9 PM. It wasn’t actually as bad as it felt on the night. I had arrived at Gare de Lyon at 19.38. There was the broken ticket machine that spit out a ticket I had to get in line to have replaced. That lost me like 30 minutes. And me walking past my hotel twice because there was no illuminated sign sticking out from the building was another 10 minutes. Other than that, it was all pretty straight-forward. I’m not going to mention taking an exit when I didn’t mean to at the metro station at Gare de Lyon because that would be embarrassing.

After a quick splash of water to the face, I felt like moving around a bit because I’d been sitting on the train for four hours and the short walk from the metro to the hotel was not enough. So, off I went to see the Eiffel Tower. When I said above that it was very close to my hotel, I actually had no idea just how close it was. In five minutes, I could already see most of it and in ten I was standing right in front of it. How cool was this! I walked around for just a bit longer and decided to go back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep.

Of course, I then decided to finish a newsletter I’d started on Wednesday, but hey … I tried to get to bed early.

Anyway, I had no real plans for Friday. I just wanted to go explore – a lot. I knew I had a ticket for the 6.30 timeslot that night and the plan was to be back at the hotel around three to take a rest and then head out again to the Musée d’Orsay.

So, first things first I bought at croissant and a pain aux raisins at the bakery on the corner because I just had to take that eating a croissant in front of the Eiffel Tower selfie. I mean – I just had to.

It was nine in the morning and there was a drizzle – not a light drizzle, a proper drizzle. I decided to walk for a bit and check out the Musée du Quai Branly. The architecture and setting are pretty cool. I didn’t feel like going inside. I was in explore mode. That’s when people best stay out of my way, because I don’t slow down.

I walked along the Seine and then across the Pon d’Iléna to the Jardins du Trocadéro and the Palais de Chaillot. This is probably gorgeous in the summer. As it was, there was a lot of construction work going on and – just like at the Eiffel Tower – all the grassy areas were closed off to give the gras time to rest. It’s called “repos hivernal”. Since the Eiffel Tower backdrop is stunning even in rainy weather there were a few wedding proposals happening. You know like the kind you see on social media. Or should I say fake wedding proposals? I saw at least 10 reaction shots by the same couple. I’m not even sure they were a couple – but hey, it’s for Instagram/TikTok or whatever. I didn’t feel bad walking right through their shot as they were basically blocking everybody. They had an entire crew with them. Maybe I’ll be in one of the blooper shots as the annoyed tourist.

Once I reached the top of the steps it started pouring down. What had been a drizzle up to then really unloaded on us. Lucky I’d remembered to grab my umbrella before I left. I joined everybody else in taking shelter inside the Trocadéro metro station. I had planned on walking to the Arc de Triomphe, but hey the metro works as well. Plus, I needed some metro practice. It’s super easy once you figure out how to identify an exit – long story. In my defense, Gare de Lyon has confusing signage.

Anyway, Arc de Triomphe … what can I say? Too crowded even in January. And too much traffic as well. I took a few pictures and pretty much fled the scene. I don’t like crowded places and I don’t think I see myself going back to Paris during peak tourist season, but that’s a different story.

Walking down the Champs-Elysées to the Place de la Concorde was something else. I loved it. And I thought to myself how cool it would be to ride one of those electric bikes up or down it. Stay tuned.

When I reached the Place de la Concorde it started raining again and it was incredibly windy. My umbrella blew away as I was trying to take a picture and wasn’t holding on to it properly. A couple of German tourists helped me get it back. They were surprised when I thanked them in German.

It was right by the Place de la Concorde just barely inside the Jardin des Tuileries that I saw some sculptures called "The Welcoming Hands”. I thought this fit nicely with the newsletter I had published the night before.

Self explanatory with the text - I think.

I would love to tell you more but looking at the number of words just now. I’m going to have to make this a 4-part series or something. I mean it’s not even lunch time of Friday and I haven’t even told you about the guy who said “vous avez beaucoup de charme Madame” to me or the two Parisians I had a chat with at lunch. I had no idea I was funny in French too.

And guess what, my French is pretty decent when I stop thinking too much and just talk. I’m also using the French names for things because it’s easier for me. Except for the Tour Eiffel - because I know that’s Eiffel Tower in English.

So much more to follow, you can’t even imagine.