Switzerland to Paris - October 8

October 8

Our first day in Paris.  We began our day with a quick breakfast.  After all, what else is there to do on vacation but eat?  What else indeed you might ask?  Well, there is sitting in Paris traffic.  It is not for the faint of heart or timid.  Where there are lines on the road they are taken as mere suggestions.  Traffic circles and intersections are a madhouse of who would be the most bold with their vehicle and more willing to crowd in front of the other drivers.  It was somewhat insane.  I was glad I wasn’t driving.

We were off on a whirlwind bus tour of the city.  We were taken by all the sights.  The Arc De Triomphe, the Louvre Museum, the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral (that is still being rebuilt after the fire), the Eiffel Tower,  and the White Cathedral on Mount Montmartre.  On the way back to the hotel we passed by the Moulin Rouge and a number of other places that we did not recognize, or remember for that matter.

We did manage to find a McDonalds close by.  Surprisingly enough they didn't have any new treats that we recognized.  We did manage to have a quick lunch of french fries and a drink.  We later passed by the McDonald’s again at night.  It was lit up and looked pretty cool.

In the evening we were scheduled to go on another bus tour.  This one was to see Paris by night.  The city, like most others, looks completely different at night when all the lights are turned on.  Our first stop was in one of the few high rise skyscrapers in the city.  Of course we had to get there by a certain time and traffic being what it was, it took us longer to get away from the hotel than it should have.  So now we are running late.  It’s a good thing we had the driver we did.  He drove the large tour bus like he was in NASCAR.  He swerved, braked, accelerated, cut other drivers off, honked his horn, flashed his lights, and did whatever it took to get us there on time.  The only thing that could have gotten us there any quicker is if he ran all the stop lights or if he had lights and siren.  We made it in one piece and took the quick fifty-six floor ride to the observation deck on the top of the building.  The view was spectacular.  The Eiffel Tower stood out the most.  At ten o’clock the Eiffel Tower light show came  on and was interesting.  It was mainly flickering  bright lights.

(I had been breathing on the window so it had fogged up a little.  The starlight appearance was by accident, but it turned out OK.)

It was then back to the hotel where we collapsed into bed.

Tomorrow will be another adventure.