Temp: low-61*, high-75*. Well, we set the alarm for 5:30 but since we didn’t go to bed until after midnight and we are used to going to bed with the chickens, we slept until 8 am. We showered and went in search of breakfast. We found Brioche Doree, 20 Blvd. St. Michel, (near our hotel) that had been recommended on the forum and had a very large breakfast of coffee, juice, and 2 pastries each for 7.60 euros total. We then felt fortified enough to attempt our first metro ride. We succeeded in mastering the machine where you insert your ticket and actually got on the right train to Les Invalides and the Mussee De l”Armee. In seven days I never did get over the fear that when I inserted my metro carte orange ticket it wasn’t going to reappear. I held my breath each time I used it, but as my husband said, it was the best investment we made. It was a long walk from the metro to the museum but we took lots of pictures on the way. We toured the museum and then went to see Napoleon’s tomb. We spent about 2 hours total in the museum and at the tomb. The museum was very interesting and both of us enjoyed it very much. We had originally planned to do the Classic Walks tour of Monmartre that afternoon, but because we slept so late we were behind schedule and probably wouldn’t have been physically able to do that walk and the bike tour later that night, we decided to just go there on our own. We stopped on the way to metro line #12 at a bar/salon, Les Ambassaders at 95 rue de Grenelle, to have lunch and to use the restroom. We ordered 2 cokes and 2 sandwiches, one ham %26amp; cheese, the other chicken. They had lettuce, tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs, sliced, and mayo on them and were very good. Cost-16.20 euros for everything. We found the #12 metro and made our way to the Abbesses stop. We didn’t see the elevator that we could have taken up to the street until later so we climbed the huge, and I mean huge amount of circular steps to the street. There was a young couple also climbing the steps and they had to stop to catch their breath more often than we did, so that made us feel not so old and out of shape. We stopped and bought 2 bottles of water and trudged on to the Funniculaire and took it up to Sacre Coeur. There were a few guys hanging around at the bottom trying to do something with string, but since I had been warned about them, we just walked right past, did not make eye contact, and had no trouble. As we got off the Funniculaire, the sun came out (before it had been very cool and cloudy) and we were treated to a breathtaking view of the entire city of Paris. We entered the church and were amazed at its beauty. I had read so much about people being disrespectful, noisy, etc, but everyone was quiet, respectful, and all obeyed the rules about no photos. We spent about 45 minutes to an hour inside and then retraced our steps to the Abbesses metro stop. That is when we say the elevator-LOL. We got off at St. Germain des Pres and walked several blocks looking in the store windows. We saw lots of furniture, clothing, and shoe stores. We found a BNP bank and withdrew money from the ATM. My debit card wouldn’t work so we used my husband’s card in the next machine. Don’t know if it was because mine is linked to my son’s account as well as our account,(I suspect that is why but didn’t use it the rest of the trip. I was afraid the machine would eat it) or if that machine wasn’t working right because another person tried it after us and it didn’t seem to work for them either. We stopped and got 2 ham %26amp; cheese crepes (I had read so much about them-this was our dinner) and 2 waters from a vendor in front of St. Germain des Pres church and sat and watched the children playing on a playground while we ate. We went back to our hotel for a short rest and then headed off to the Tour Eiffel to meet up with the Fat Tire Bike tour for the night ride around Paris. We were late getting there but they were still there so all was fine. We walked from the tower to the bike office, about a mile, to get the bikes. Then we were off. We rode to Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Conciergerie, Les Invalides, the Ile St. Louis and back to the Eiffel tower where we then got on a boat for a cruise down the Seine. When we were on the Ile St. Louis we stopped for Berthillon ice cream. I had two scoops, rhubarb and raspberry (both were out of this world) and my husband (being boring and predictable again) had vanilla. On the boat ride we had all the free wine we wanted to drink courtesy of the bike company. After the cruise we rode the bikes back to the bike office and headed out down the dark streets (it was now midnight) on foot to find metro #10 which we took back to our hotel. Though the hour was late and the streets dark, we never felt scared or threatened. (I wouldn’t want to walk around Tampa at midnight on a dark street.) Our legs were killing us from the ride and we didn’t get to sleep until after 2:30 am, but it was a lot of fun and we had experienced a second wonderful day in Paris.
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High of 75? RIght..... it%26#39;s an unrelenting 95 degrees in Paris right now. At 7:00 p.m. I guess I can%26#39;t complan, though, since this is day 17 for me. :) Glad to see you had a good day.
I have had that %26quot;Movenpick%26quot; ice cream (or however you spell it) every time I%26#39;ve been in the Latin Quarter. I have tried pear, apricot, and white peach with red currant. All amazing. If you ever have a chance to get pear ice cream, do it. I have not found the Berthillion yet.... maybe this week.
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Hi mediamama
I am always impressed with those of you who have the guts to ride a bike in Paris ?!!!
I would ride in nothing smaller than a heavily armoured battletank...... (if I should be in charge of the steeringwheel myself).
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We probably wouldn%26#39;t have riden them either had we been in Paris longer and really had a look at how everyone drives. It was definitely fun though. There were all ages on the bikes and several younger people had more trouble than we did, thank goodness.
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Mediamama - great trip report. I%26#39;ve been thinking about the bike tours for our trip in September. How much traffic was there while you rode ? My husband and I ride, but typically not in city traffic! The last time I rode in NY traffic I was in my %26quot;invincible 20%26#39;s%26quot; ! I%26#39;m a few decades past that now...
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%26gt;%26gt; I am always impressed with those of you who have the guts to ride a bike in Paris ?!!! %26lt;%26lt;
My favorite is the Place de la Concorde :-) actually whn you know what you are doing, and where you are going, it%26#39;s not that scary.
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Wow, on the boat ride you had %26quot;all the wine you wanted to drink, courtesy of the bike company%26quot;, and then you rode the bikes? You%26#39;re better wine drinkers than anyone who lives in my house. Was the wine watered down? Or is your capacity just better than most?
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The traffic was not too bad and there is safety in numbers I suppose. They tend to take you down some quieter streets and also you ride in the bus and taxi lanes sometimes. It really wasn%26#39;t too bad.
About the wine, we were only on the boat for an hour or so, so you can%26#39;t drink too much. They don%26#39;t fill up the glasses and you don%26#39;t want to get up too often for a helping for fear you look like a drunk so you really don%26#39;t drink that much.
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