Another Tourist Day - Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame

Monday, August 2, 2010 Day 33
My sisters were working on packing when I arrived at their hotel. They finished packing and put their luggage into storage at the hotel, then they checked out and we left for the Champs du Mars and the Eiffel Tower. This time we got in line for tickets, another line to board the lift, and yet another line on the second stage to go all the way to the top. Was it worth it? Well, it was pretty spectacular, but it took all morning, and from the time we got in line until we got on the ground two hours later there was NO PLACE TO SIT DOWN!!!! It was really fatiguing for those of us who are members of the silver set. We did get to see a guy propose to his girl. He was down on one knee holding the little red box and she was laughing and crying all at once. Neat! After we got down, we sat a while, then walked toward a subway and a restaurant. Here was my sisters’ worst meal in Paris, and it wasn’t bad. We had salads, and they were all rather ordinary. We all carry water with us, and when we first sat down, we put our bottles on the table. When the waiter arrived with the menus, he chastised us and we had to put the bottles on the floor or in our bags. We retaliated by not ordering anything to drink!!

After lunch we headed over to Notre Dame, where we did a walk-through and saw the famous rose windows. We walked around outside and admired the gardens and checked out the love locks on the Pont des Arts (see my blog photo of 6-7-2010). From there we returned to the hotel, picked up my sisters’ luggage and headed for the airport and their hotel near there. They have an early flight (6:30 or so) out to Madrid, then on across the Pond, so they wanted to spend the last night near the airport. Such an adventure!

In order to access the metro by their hotel, we had to go up a steep, narrow escalator. I got on first and pulled Mary Ellen’s big suitcase behind me. Jane was next with her small suitcase in front and the big one behind. Mary Ellen was last with her small suitcase. I am not sure exactly what happened, but about halfway up, Mary Ellen toppled over backward! Fortunately for her, she landed on her suitcase which had a backpack attached and was rather padded. Also fortunately for her, two women below her on the escalator saw her distress and rushed to help her up. It’s a good thing, as neither Jane nor I could get to her – we were blocked by our suitcases, which filled the entire span of the escalator. She was standing by the time she got to the top, and while one of the women helped her along, the other brought her suitcase. Most fortunate of all was that the only injury she suffered was to her dignity. She said she was glad no one had a camera!!! From there we dragged luggage onto the metro, then disembarked at the station where we were to catch the shuttle out to Orly. More stairs, more stairs. A very kind gentleman carried Jane’s big suitcase up the exterior stairs and a woman helped me by lifting the bottom of Mary Ellen’s suitcase. Next we had to locate the shuttle, which I managed to find, and we schlepped the luggage across a square and up to a shuttle bus. I went in and bought tickets, then we were hustled onto the bus so it could leave. Since everybody on the bus was headed to the airport, all the luggage racks were full except the top ones, and at this point, there was no way we could lift the luggage onto those! We just left the larger two sideways in the aisle and got the smaller ones tucked in a bit. There were, amazingly enough two empty seats side by side in the back of the bus, and one just ahead of it, so we were able to sit together. The bus pulled out shortly after we got on. Less than five minutes later the rain began to fall, and it kept up all the way out to the airport. Talk about timing!

Upon arrival at the airport, we didn’t know whether to get of at Orly Ouest or Orly Sud, so we chose the latter. We waited until everyone else was off the bus to make it easier to maneuver the luggage, then got out in the rain. We ducked into a shelter, which is misnamed as it only offered partial protection from the rain. From there we headed across the street and into the airport – a short dash which did not get us very wet. I headed for seating as our first priority, since we were wet and didn’t know where we needed to go. Jane went in search of information while Mary Ellen and I sat down and I changed the SIM card in her phone. Jane came back a few minutes later and said we were in luck – Iberia Airline leaves from Orly Ouest, so she couldn’t handle the printing of her tickets from here, but the Holiday Inn shuttle left every 20-30 minutes from Gate E, which was just right around the corner. In due time, we boarded the shuttle and let the driver handle the baggage – thank you very much!

We arrived at the hotel, and Jane checked in and discussed arrangements for the next morning. Their flight leaves for Madrid at 6:30. So no, they didn’t want the hotel breakfast, which starts serving at 6:00. The hotel shuttle also didn’t start until 6:00, so she arranged for a wake-up call at 4:00 and ordered a taxi for a 4:30 pickup to get them to the airport. I went with them to their room, which was very much like a standard American hotel room – much larger than the typical European one. I stayed a bit and visited but did not want to stay for supper, since the hotel didn’t start serving until 7:00 p.m. and it was not quite 6:00. I wanted to head on back into Paris and my husband and my apartment. I went back to the airport on the hotel shuttle and found the Orly transport back into the city. We were under the impression that the only transport out was the shuttle bus we took out, but I discovered that there is a train line that runs out there as well. Not a lot of difference – you still have to lug your bags up and down stairs – but perhaps a bit faster. The train is not dependent upon the vagaries of Paris traffic in the rain. I arrived back in Paris and called Roger to meet me at the metro exit nearest our house. When I came up at the metro stop, I didn’t see him, so moved to the curb to cross the street and I could see him just walking up to the street crossing on the other side. What a welcome sight! We had dinner at the restaurant on the corner, then headed home. I was exhausted after my two-day adventure with my sisters, but we had a really nice time.

The moral of all this, in case you haven’t already discerned, is to travel VERY light when coming to Europe, particularly if you are on your own adventure. Even lighter if you are coming to Paris! The good thing about tours is that they handle all your luggage for you, door to door.