A big day of viewing the best that Paris has to offer. We headed out at 10am to make our 11am tour of the Tour Eiffel. The Metro at our doorstep is only for ticket holders; should have checked that earlier! So we headed off to the advised address - an empty building. A helpful bar owner with no English assisted; the Academie Francaise would shout "quel horreur!" as my question for "les billets de Metro" was responded to with "Ah, les tickets"!
Suitably ticketed at Sentier, we headed down and changed to the line that delivered nine Aussies to Trocadero. The view of the Eiffel Tower from here is stunning. We walked past the International Archery competition - duck! - and arrived at the warrior statue conveniently located on the other side of the Pont d'Iena from the other warrior statue where we were advised to wait. Not a drama and we were soon underway. The guide, Andrew, provided a potted 15 minute history of the background to why and how the tower was built. Prior to its construction, no structure had reached this height (300 mr). The Statue of Liberty at 93mr was an early template for the Eiffel as its core is steel. There also seemed to be a bit of corruption in the jury process with Eiffel's main rival proposing granite and the selection criteria being changed to specify steel. Eiffel and the minister were good mates apparently.
The overview was complemented by a police chase of souvenir sellers; not as spectacular and frightening as Barcelona, but entertaining.
Off to the main event - it was clear that spending €28 for this vs €8.50 at the ticket office was worth it. Not only is there an enormous queue for tickets; there is then another enormous queue to get up. Groups have their own entry, so even just booking online for individual tickets is a trap.
The view from Level 2 is stunning. There was a bit of mist about which was annoying. Nonetheless we got some great shots and videos. A curiosity was an empty wheelchair. It reminded me of Andy Pipkin on Little Britain. It became clear that a guy using it was being assisted by his friends to stand and see the view.
We were up there for over an hour.
After lunch by the Seine we caught a bateau and did a 1 hour cruise along the river. We went as far as Notre Dame and the tip of the Ile de la Cite. Very interesting and a relaxing way of further getting our bearings. Floating under the many bridges was delightful and romantic.
Next, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. On the way, we passed a guy riding his mountain bike down the steps next to Palais de Tokyo. He was fast and good - well he didn't crash. Then there was a protest outside Musee Guimet which is holding an Angkor exhibition; didn't get that one but it could be political. Finally we arrived at l'Arc. The traffic is crazy here but it's probably unavoidable. While taking a photo a gypsy - sorry, traveller - tried the old "is this your ring" trick. She didn't get past first base; next!
From here the promenade of the best avenue in the world beckoned. At just under 2km in length, the Avenue des Champs Élysées is so chic they don't even have rubbish bins. There was a queue to enter Louis Vuitton. Two car showrooms rival Tiffany in presentation! This is Paris at its wealthiest. A club sandwich at Laduree costs €19.80. These tearooms have been opened for 150 years so I hope it's fresh.
We stopped at a cafe off the Avenue for a reviver and a sit down at a marginally cheaper rate, but no club sandwich. The waiter, Mathieu was very nice and talked of visiting Australia. He quite openly said they like Australians but not the British.
We continued to the Place de la Concorde and the other traffic nightmare of Paris. We looked upon the Obelisk with renewed interest after visiting its original site in Karnak, Egypt some years ago. The view to the Academie Francaise across the Pont Alexandre III is almost as great as the view up the Avenue from the Tuileries.
We entered the Jardin des Tuileries (is this the only spot in Paris where you can see the Tour Eiffel and the Arc from the one vantage point?).
These gardens were really busy. It was a sunny Saturday afternoon so everyone was out enjoying the last vestiges of fine weather. When we were last here in 1993 it was mid week and a dull day, so the contrast was stark.
Bruce started to fade as he seems to be coming down with something so we pared off from the group and sat at a cafe. After a drink we caught the Metro to Bonne Nouvelle and got him upstairs via the pharmacy.
Tim, Ana, the boys and Peter Hall turned up later. They had dined chez Halls. We picked over the leftovers from last night and had a comparatively early night after a great day.