I left you sitting in Jardin du Luxembourg. And there it all started when two women sat down next to me with the most gorgeous sandwiches. I don’t like fish, so I didn’t ask them where they got theirs, but I realized just how hungry I was.
This is an area where there are a lot of students. So, to answer the question I left you with – you follow the students. Not in a creepy way, but if there’s a stream of them walking one way, that’s where you need to go too.
I didn’t feel like burgers or sushi, but I then saw this panini place. That looked so good, and it was packed with students. I got myself a “Calimero” and it was as delicious as it sounded. I walked towards Montparnasse eating it. YUMMY!
And since I’d not had a crêpe in Paris yet, I got one of those for dessert as well. Mine was one with salted butter and caramel. YUMMY again.
I was early for my time slot and had to sit outside like a naughty child for 10 minutes. There were a couple of women from the UK who were told the same and when they entered 10 minutes later and didn’t come back out, I re-entered as well.
Those who know me also know that I have a fear of heights. I can’t remember how many floors that tower had, but I very much hated the elevator ride up. Once I was up there, I was surprisingly okay. And there were no platforms with a glass floor to step out on … those, I would have stayed away from.
The view is pretty decent. I’m glad I only went there after I’d been to most attractions. It feels different when you’re up there and can identify many different landmarks. I almost wrote “tourist attractions” but I think landmarks is a better fit. I loved the view from the top floor but you could also go out onto the roof. Not a huge fan of roof terraces - for obvious reasons. This one was pretty nice though.
Because of pretty massive glass barriers and me being of average height, taking pictures was not that easy. You could also not go close to the edge, so the view down was not as good as from the top indoor floor. This is not a complaint about not being able to go closer to the edge. I really wouldn’t have wanted to.
The British women - well, I guess I could say English based on their Northern English dialect - asked me to take a picture of them with the Eiffel Tower in the background. I don’t think they were impressed by my photography skills. I assume they only wanted their heads and not their full bodies in the picture. But hey! That’s my artistic freedom and the only instruction I was given was “us with the Eiffel Tower in the background”.
I walked back down the steps and turned right. There was an amazing exhibit. A bit of time travel from Roman times (or maybe even earlier – I can’t remember exactly) to today. If that’s still there when you visit, don’t miss it!
I’ve gotten really good at navigation gift shops as in walk right thought them. But at that point I was totally ready for my souvenirs as I was heading back to my hotel for a bit. I bought a Paris t-shirt. They only had it in black, but it’s pretty anyway. And, I also got a fridge magnet. The front of my fridge is non-magnetic, so I guess I need another word for my magnets. They are the doorframe kind.
I had walked around quite a bit and since there was a bus leaving from right outside the tower in two minutes that would take me to within feet of my hotel, I hopped right on that without giving it much thought. It was mid-afternoon on a Friday … some of you might be way ahead of me here. There was traffic, so much traffic. Also, pre-Olympics road construction all over the place. I’m sure they’re calling it something like “improvements” to make it sound better.
Long story short – the bus got stuck in traffic. I could have walked faster than that. I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t really care too much. I had nowhere to be until much later. When I got to Gare de Lyon I decided to go explore a bit. I had arrived very late the night before and just took whatever looked like the quickest way to my hotel.
I now know that they are hiding the best food places downstairs in hall 3 where there is also a pretty decent waiting area. So, if your train leaves from hall 2, you can totally hang out downstairs until your train is announced. I checked for early Sunday morning opening hours as well. Not the greatest of choices, but I found a place to get a croissant and possibly a soda or two.
Then I went across the street to a supermarket to buy some yogurt (yes, I bought two this time as my room came with a fridge AND I wasn’t leaving the next day. This is where I got a rose because it was International Women’s Day. When I finally arrived back at the hotel there wasn’t much time to rest. I had 7 PM tickets to the Atelier des Lumières and I was meant to get there at least 15 mins early.
I thought this was a good chance to go check out nearby Cimetière du Père Lachaise, but it was already closed. I wasn’t too bothered by that, since I now knew how to get there and maybe next time I will check opening hours before going.
It seriously didn’t occur to me that a cemetery could have opening hours, but then again, I grew up in a small village and our cemetery barely had gates. The next day I found out why it’s a good idea not to have it open overnight. I probably won’t share what people were doing between the graves though …
On to Atelier des Lumières. There was no line whatsoever, and nobody cared about my timeslot. I entered and watched the three shows. I have to say that I prefer the venue they have in Zurich (Lichthalle Maag). The seating was in weird places and also the program was a bit unclear to me. There were three different shows in one hall. And it looked like it was a short one first and then the main one and then another short one and the main one again. I guess when they actually pay attention to your timeslot they try and start you off with a shorter one, but then again, my official timeslot started right in the middle of one.
Okay, maybe I’m slightly too Swiss for this. We tend to have very well timed and well organized events. And maybe I was still grumbling because my visit to the Arc de Triomphe had been cancelled. What happened next did not really help but let me finish telling you about the Atelier des Lumières first.
Well worth a visit if you’ve never been to an immersive show like that or if you’re really interested in what they’re showing (Pharaohs and Egypt were just not really my cup of tea). Maybe talk to someone about your visit and the timing of things before you enter. I didn’t because there was no line and I just walked straight in.
Next, I figured I’d go to the Musée des Arts et Métiers to see that statue of liberty out front. I was sure that I missed it last time because the rain was pouring down and I headed straight for the entrance. Well … what can I say, it wasn’t there! You could clearly see where it used to stand, but that spot was empty. At this point of increasing grumbliness it didn’t occur to me to go in and ask somebody about it.
Why does Word think “grumbliness” is not a word? – *smh*.
So I grumbled back to the metro, grabbed dinner at Gare de Lyon and went back to my hotel. There, I kind of flashed all the neighbors because my blinds went up suddenly. I had pressed one of the mood buttons by mistake. Not sure the neighbors minded, but the blinds went back down immediately.
I’ll be back to tell you about a big old arch, an old arch, a language museum - oh and the cemetery as well. Stay tuned.
I might also write something in French.
What fun!!
🎼 “I love Paris in the Springtime….” Great fun. Looking forward to next installment! 😘