Paris Pictures - 13 March
Published 8.April - back dated to 12.March to be in chronological order.
First full day with our (jet lagged) moms in Paris and we had the "idea" that we would have a low-key day, hit the "highlights" and rest up a bit. Fools! =)
We had them meet us in the subway at Chateau les Halles. Should be easy - just step off the subway, don't move, we'll find you. It really was that easy. Except that Dan and I freaked out when we arrived, thinking we would have to change platforms - then, once we realized where we needed to be, realized how long the subway cars are. Agghh! Needless to say, it was really easy. After about 30-minutes of fretting, we finally stood still and voila! Our moms arrived on the next subway, walked off the train car and all was good.
Should have stuck with my original plan of getting on the "hop on, hop off" bus - but my budget analysis got the best of me at the last minute. Afterall, we had already paid for public transit for 5-days, why should we pay again? Surely we can just use the public buses...
Alas, we hit the highlights and everyone was about ready to kill me by the end of the day.
Opera House - simply stunning inside and out. We opted not to go for the entire tour (8 EURO per person), but a traveling group broke into song on the steps - they may (or not) have been pros, but to hear voices singing and the acoustical beauty of just the entrance was moving. Very beautiful architecture and stunning attention to detail.
Next stop was the Arc de Triomphe. I'm proud to say, we managed to somewhat easily get on a bus from the Opera House and to the monument with relatively little problem. Figuring out the transit routes isn't as easy to do on the go when there are 3 adults and 2 kids heckling you. First up - snacks in the square across from the monument. Hey, there are no garbage cans, anywhere. Next priority - find the bathrooms. I'm pleased to say, there's a rather decent public bathroom near the Arc de Triomphe. Made everyone's lives easier.
Finally, we embarked on the walk to the monument, which takes you under the impressive roundabout which encircles the monument. What a fantastic memorial - beautiful and somehow thought-provoking amid the hub bub of traffic and tourists. The Arc d'Triomphe was originally ordered by Napolean in 1806, to commemerate his victories, and was completed in 1836. The monument today is a peace memorial, with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier located on site since 1921. On the wall of names, we found reference to "Scherer" on the section dedicated to "Armees de Pyrenees or(ales) Des Pyrenees oc(ales) de L'Ouest de Reserve du Camp de Boulogne."
The signs of tiredness are there and we all are ignoring them. Press on - the Eiffel Tower is just over "that" way. I got us on the "right" bus; second guessed; got us off (it almost took off with our moms still on board!), wandered a bit and got us back on the "right" bus (ironically, the same direction we had just gotten off). Anyhoo. We exited at the Military School and walked up - for a few minutes I was dubious, then alas, you round the corner, and there she is. Megan was thrilled - she had been pining to see the Eiffel Tower since we arrived on the 10th.
We had decided we would go up the tower. Dan and Megan were interested in taking the stairs, the rest of us were begging for coffee and cake at the restuarant. Just as soon as we were under the tower, a huge gust of wind hit and it was threatening to rain. After several minutes of discussion, we decided to return another day vs. freeze in line for tickets and again at the top.
Don't ask me how we got here. It all started with a search for a cafe. Unbelievably, we couldn't find a cafe that we could agree on and soon found ourselves within distance of the Pantheon. Again, we didn't enter - the group was beyond ability to function at this point only I didn't recognize it. We admired the building and Megan used grandma's hat to put on a fashion show as we delibrated how best to end the day.
Dan and I needed to find a place to add money to our pre-paid cell phone and we wanted to find a grocery store for our moms to get a snack for dinner. The Disney Princess Hotel is really isolated and turns out, the dinner offered at the hotel is a buffet, at an outrageous price. After the fact, we realized more inline prices were available at the Disney Village, a free shuttle ride away. After trying to accomplish tasks with everyone, we finally saw our moms to their subway train - they simply had to get off at the last stop, then take the shuttle bus to their hotel. Then we continued (unsuccessfully) on our errand quest, eventually wandering back to the motorhome for dinner and a very welcome bed.
Dan and I recapped the day - what went well, what didn't. We had agreed with the moms to visit Disneyland next - but we were not going to move the motorhome. At the last minute, we decided to pack up drive as we understood we could park the motorhome in the Disney parking lot. That way, we take advantage of the proximity of the mom's hotel and we can take care of food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) from the motorhome. We couldn't alert our moms (there seems to be no published phone number for the Disney Princess Hotel and our cell phone is out of money) - so we planned to do our best to be at their hotel at 10:30am, as we had promised.
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