Back From Paris!!!

We are back from Paris and I’m finally feeling rested. It was an awesome trip. I could have spent another week there.

We left on Thursday, April 27. We had a 5:00 flight out of Boston. We arrived in Paris the next morning, around 8:00am, Paris time. We were like walking zombies, but we did a bit of walking around and exploring (photos from that day). It was the only day that Kent wasn’t going to be in meetings. Unfortunately, Kent didn’t manage to see much of Paris as he was in meetings every single day.

I, on the other hand, went crazy. Walking around Paris is exhausting work though, but the occasional stops for espresso helped a lot. And, after a few hours, I had mastered the public transit system - at least well enough to get where I wanted to go.

My itinerary:

Day 1 - April 28, Friday
After breakfast, Kent went off to his meetings. I waited to be picked up at my hotel. I had signed up for a day tour of the city - 9 hours in all. The trip took in a two hour city tour via a small tour van, with three stops along the way. The first stop was a view of the Eiffel Tower.

It was a nice stop. We had 15 minutes to look around. In this square there are two large buildings on each side (Palais de Chaillot), and on one side was the beautiful Pard du Champ de Mars. I didn’t have time to go through the park. Today was the a strict schedule.

Following that we traveled along the Seine River, crossing the river and driving down the very expensive Av des Champs Elysees. Our guide pointed out many of the sites along the way, such as the Arc de Triumpe. We eventually ended up back at the Eiffel Tower where we were to have lunch in the second tier restaurant.

This shot was taken from the Eiffel Tower right after lunch.

After which, we stopped off at Notre Dame Cathedral. This was a tough shot. Flash was not useful because of the large area, not to mention that camera flash (and any other kind of flashing - as I found out) is highly discouraged because of the sacred setting. So, this photo was without flash, and the camera was hand held because I didn’t want to lug around my tripod with me.

After this we headed off to Versailles where we spent the rest of the afternoon. A few Photos from Versailles, again all without flash. You can’t use flash because of the oil paintings. Over time, flash will bleach the paintings. So, all the photos of the inside of Versailles was done hand held and without flash. Because of this, some came out a bit blurry, but without a tripod, there’s really no way around that.

That ended the tour. After which, the tour was supposed to drop us off back to the hotel. But my hotel was out in the outskirts of Paris and he didn’t want to fight rush hour traffic. So, he asked me if he could drop my off in central Paris, at the Place De La Concorde. It’s a huge plaza. At one end you can look directly down the Avenue Des Champs Elysees (where all the most expensive shops in Paris reside - and we are talking very very expensive here) and see the Arc De Triomphe. Looking the other way, you will run into the Louvre Museum.

I agreed to be let off because it was a part of Paris I had not yet seen. I found a restaurant and had dinner. After dinner, I went to the bathroom, which was downstairs. Once downstairs, there was a common area where the sink resided, and on each side of the sink, was a men’s room and a ladies room. When I entered the men’s room, this is what I found.

I’m thinking, “Where’s the toilet!?!” Then I saw some toilet paper in the white area of the bottom, and I proceeded to push the only button on the thing. When I did, water flooded the bottom, washing the toilet tissue away down the hole. What was interesting is that water flooded everywhere in the white basin area on the bottom, except for the two islands that were raised. It went right to the upper edge of them and stopped.

So, since I had to do only “# 1”, I did that, and pushed the button, all while standing with my two feet on each of the two little islands. As water flooded the basin, I stood my ground on the two islands to see if the water would come up on my shoes. It didn’t. It came just to the top of the two islands, and stopped. Then the water stopped, and quickly drained.

Then I thought that if you needed to do “# 2”, you would simply turn around the other way with your back towards the basin, squat down (remember, there is nothing to sit on here!), and ummmmm let it drop into the hole. Then you would use the toilet tissue to clean yourself, pull your pants up (very important before pushing that button!), turn around, and push the button. I didn’t try “# 2” but in theory, it should work splendidly.

Then I thought about the ingenuity of this. Think about it. There is nothing to touch you. There is nothing to sit down on, so many of the concerns we have in public toilets about sanitation and catching something from a toilet seat, goes away.

Also, many people like to take newspapers to read while they are doing their business. Well, with just one small room for each sex, you aren’t going to want people to sit and think deep thoughts while this all happens. You want them in, and out. And, if you’ve ever squatted before, you now it’s not the most comfortable position to be in for long periods of time, so there is an added incentive to just get the job done and be on your way.

I didn’t sneak a peek in the ladies room, but I imagine it is a similar setup. You have to hand it to the Europeans - sometimes they really have their stuff together.

Day 2 - April 29, Saturday
This was a day on my own and it was very busy. We had breakfast at our hotel, and Kent went off to his meetings, which left me in the room trying to figure out what I would be doing for the rest of the day.

After looking at the map, I decided to take the Metro over to the Rodin Museum. I wasn’t sure about it, but I now have to say that it was probably the best decision of the trip. It was truly inspiring.

After that, I went for lunch and had a crape filled with ham, cheese, and fresh tomato. I then proceeded through the Hotel National Des Invalides. The Hotel des Invalides was built by Louis XIV in the 1670’s as a residential village for up to 4000 disabled veterans, who were begging on Paris’ streets. The courtyard (Cour d’Honneur) that you see here, is used for military parades, overlooked by a statue of Napoleon. If you proceed through this into the dome area, you will enter the Tomb of Napoleon.

By the time I had completed this, it was two hours later. I decided to end day with a Seine River boat trip. I ended up leaving the boat tour two hours later at the Hotel de Ville (last photo in the set). This is close to the so-called “gay area” of Paris. Well, as close to a gay area that Paris has.

Paris is different from a lot of places. I soon realized why they don’t have a need for a gay area. I went into the neighborhood where I expected to see stores displaying the gay flag showing that I was in a gay ghetto. I never found it. I saw gay couples openly holding hands, caressing, kissing - just like I see straight couples do in the rest of Paris. The difference is, I could see that all over the place. So, there didn’t seem to be this big pressing need to have a gay area. In my mind, that is the way it should be. Gay people in Paris obviously feel comfortable enough to just be themselves and are part of society. I think that is what is sorely lacking in the United States today - and not just with gays.