We met at 12:30 in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral with the intention of doing the Frommer’s walk #19 in the Luxembourg Gardens area. Everyone was a bit hungry so we agreed to walk down to the Metro Station where the walk is supposed to start via the famous bohemian “Left Bank” area, and find a restaurant near the start of the walk.
I take great pride in my ability to navigate Paris without a map. Sure, to find a specific minor street I have to use a map but otherwise, I never get lost.
Within about 3 minutes of crossing the Seine River from the Ile de la Cité, I was completely lost. I think it was the lack of sun as a navigational aid and the fact that the old streets in the medieval Left Bank, twist and turn almost to the point of making spirals. Anyway, after about 45 minutes of wandering, we stopped at Café St. Victor, which just happened to be in front of us when I finally just gave up.
Café St. Victor turned out to be a wonderful place with a waiter who made us feel very welcome (and was willing to show me were we were on the map). We dined at leisure.
By about 3:45, which is about 2 hours before sunset here, we began our day. We walked through the Luxembourg Gardens, strolled down a bunch of shopping streets and bought some stuff (not me) until Dayton had to retire to his hotel room to make a bunch of phone calls (work). The rest of us retired to the hotel lobby, sipped some wine and then went out for pizza. Very strenuous.
Dayton returned earlier than expected, and we decided that it would be a good idea to walk to the Eiffel Tower which is a long way away (as incredible as this may seem, it was my idea). The walk did turn out to be great, with the tower first sparkling in the distance and then eventually getting closer and closer. We made it to the base at midnight.
We got lost again (me) getting us back to the nearest Metro station. The metro was having a bad evening. Line 1 closed early for maintenance and we were redirected to the RER, which, it turns out someone forgot a suitcase on the train platform at Gare de Lyon, so they had to do the whole bomb squad thing, which means the RER was not running until it was cleared. We split again, going different ad hoc ways. I am still not sure if everyone made it home.I got to bed shortly after 1:00 AM.
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2 comments:
Well, it's Monday and most of us saps had to work or go to school today.
So, looking forward to that brief escape of faraway adventures to transport us from our daily routine, we click on the link for "Passages 2010 Sabbatical" only to discover an entry titled Blogger! Blogger! What the heck is this? Was there a mistake? Have we been tossed aside while "friends" are visiting? Or are you just toying with us Brian, wondering what might appear in the comments. Maybe nothing or maybe some COMPLAINING! Oh, the cruelty of it all.
So here we sit dumbfounded while the Aftanases and their "special" friends are living the life of Riley, whoever that is. I swear I want to come back as Riley in my next life.
Well, I guess it's back to my routine and hope that tomorrow will bring more blogging of pictures and stories from far away places courtesy of the Aftanas group.
:->
Laurie p.
oops. Fixed. Thanks for reading.
(Got some email from people who want to comment but are put-off by having to register. It only needs a email ID. The reason for requiring registration is because there are 3rd parties who post nasty ads or comments randomly on blogs. Sad but true.)
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