Ah, Paris

A very exciting side benefit to our trip to Prague was a 22 hour layover in Paris on the return trip to Bali. Paris in a day! Paris was never high on my list of places to go. Stories about how unfriendly it was and how it was filled with tourists. I knew about the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the Seine and Notre Dame. But, other than the major attractions I didn’t know much. But hey, if the layover demanded we get a taste of Paris then Paris it was.

The Eiffel Tower touched me. We arrived late in the evening and booked a room just a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower. In my lifetime I have seen thousands and thousands of photos of the Eiffel Tower. I have seen it in numerous movies and TV shows. It is just a bunch of steel girders riveted together. But when we got to our hotel, walked a block and then turned right, BAM! There it was, just a block away in all its glory. My jaw dropped and I literally stood there and laughed a laugh of joy and wonder. I’m a sucker for stuff like that. Perhaps my favorite spot in the world is Daibutsu (the Great Buddha) in Kamakura. Every time I come around the corner and see him sitting there in the same spot he has been for seven hundred years I am struck with a sense of joy. I have only been to the Grand Canyon once, but I will always remember just staring in wonder.

So yeah. Who knew it would have such an impact. I admit it, I was giddy. We walked down just in time for the on the hour every hour five minute light show where the entire tower sparkles with white lights. It was eleven o’clock at night so there were just a few people milling around. It was a clear night and, as luck would have it, the moon was standing vigil just beyond the tower. We gazed at it for a bit and then walked back to the hotel knowing we were going to have to maximize the time we had in Paris.

Oh so that’s what it’s suppose to taste like. With less than a day it was important to try the french cuisine. Breakfast was at a small cafe where Midori chose the quiche. Most of the quiche I have ever tried in the states had the density of a brick. But this was….well, it was light and creamy and frothy and airy and tasty! I had no idea what real quiche was before this. Our only other meal was at a place called Le Souffle. We both ordered the three course meal with souffle all the way. The starter was a small cheese souffle with a garden salad. The main course I had the beef souffle while Midori had the chicken souffle. Dessert was the chocolate souffle for me and the Grand Marnier souffle for her. Each course was an event as the waiter would come and make final preps at the table punching a hole in the souffles and pouring in the meat and gravy. For the dessert I was left with a sauce boat full of amazing chocolate while for Midori’s they poured Grand Marnier over it and then left the bottle. It was all delicious, especially the cheese souffle and the chocolate souffle. But, that is souffle overload. I’m pretty sure I’m good for, oh, five years or so. Unless somebody puts a chocolate souffle in front of me of course.

Friendlier than expected. All I have ever heard is how unfriendly customer service people are in Paris. They don’t like Americans and just make you feel unwelcome. From what we saw, that notion could not be further from the truth. Everyone we interacted with was friendly and helpful. It was a noticeable difference from Prague and erased some preconceived notions I had about Paris.

I am a lousy navigator. I got us lost in Prague and, sure enough, I got us lost in Paris. I always get close, and I can sense that I am so, so near where we are trying to go, I can’t always close the deal. In Paris we had no local sim card and no international plan so as we were looking for the restaurant I was stopping outside of restaurants and hotels trying to latch on to their wifi (in both Prague and Paris many places don’t require passwords). We ended up stopping in a small restaurant to get our bearings which created the awkward moment of the day. We were walking through a business district and walked into the place everyone seems to go for they work lunches. When two obvious tourists walked in it was that moment where the place got real quiet for a second and everyone seemed to stop, all eyes on us. Ummmm…..nothing to see here. Just going to grab a beer and some wifi. Luckily the wifi saved the day and I was able to get my bearings. We were only a few blocks away from Le Souffle so after I downed my beer and Midori quickly finished her tea we skedaddled out of there.

A sad day for Paris. Coincidentally, we were there the day Notre Dame Cathedral burned. My initial thought was to take one of the many tour boats from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame and then walk back up the Seine from there. The lines were way too long for the boats and we knew we didn’t have the time to waste waiting in lines all day. So the plan to go to Notre Dame was scrapped. We arrived at the airport around 6PM. Before we boarded our flight Midori showed me a breaking news article about the fire. I kick myself for not making the effort to go. I am also thankful we were already at the airport because I’m sure traffic was impossible once the fire started.

So, 22 hours in Paris convinces me I have to go back. Great food, check. Eiffel Tower, check. Walk along the Seine, check. There is so much more to explore and discover. A beautiful city with rich history, amazing architecture and lots and lots of parks and wide open spaces. It was a very pleasant surprise and I look forward to the next visit.