May 3, 2011

I am writing this entry from my hotel bed (Royal Madeleine). It’s about 10:30 and I am très fatigue and mal à les pieds! I’ve got my feet propped up as high as they’ll go. I figure if I drain out all the blood they won’t throb anymore, right? This hotel gives out free candy – I’ve had a few. They don’t have a pool, though, and I was pretty sure the website said they did. So sure that I brought my swimsuit! The concierge I asked seemed to look up answers for about five minutes before he said no. He seemed new; he could be wrong.

This morning I packed up and left Le Regent and took the metro to Le Place des Invalides (where Napoleon is buried). I toured around that area for a while until it was late enough to check into my new hotel. Once I found it (after a few wrong turns, and a lucky run into a bureau de poste) I settled in and took a shower. No time to waste, though, today was Eiffel Tower day!

I headed back into the city and saw the Assemblée Nationale, l’Eglise de la Madeleine, la Closerie des Lilas (where Hemingway wrote The Sun Also Rises), Jardins Luxembourg, and le Panthéon. In the Panthéon I went into the crypt and saw the tombs of some pretty amazing people, including Dumas, Voltaire, Marie Curie, Russeau, and Victor Hugo. Good news for anyone planning on dying soon, there’s lots of space left in the crypt. Just do something amazing for France (or the world on behalf of France) and you’re in!

After that, it was straight to the Tower for me! My feet were dying to stage a revolution at this point so I opted for the elevator line instead of the stairs one; which may not have been worth it because it was longer and I had to do more idle standing. Once at the front of the line,  I bought a ticket for the summit and I was in a lift after not too much waiting, maybe 30-45 minutes. To actually be in the Eiffel Tower after hearing and seeing so much about it my whole life was pretty amazing. It was a bit busy so at times I got that cattle herding feeling, but not enough to ruin my experience. It was pretty cold at the top (after a second elevator ride, up even higher). There was a Canada flag marker that told me I was 6014 km from Toronto, not for long! I made my way down the tower and was out by about 7:30 pm. I decided to stick around and wait for nightfall so I could get pictures of the Tower all lit up. I got dinner from a stall near the base of the Tower (fries and hot dogs – no bun, just dogs, that’s how they do it, apparently) and watched a carousel for a while. Around 8:30 pm, I wandered back down the Champs de Mars and got in position for some photos. I ended up volunteering to take a bunch of pictures for other people, which was nice. Hopefully they will look back on that picture and remember the kind stranger who helped them out (but probably not). I took loads of pictures when they lights came on; I played around with my camera settings because what else am I going to do alone in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower at dusk?

Once I was photo-satisfied, I left via École Militaire. It was dark when I got back to my neighbourhood so I got a bit lost (again [surprise, surprise]). Once I figured out where I was and had my hotel rue in sight, I power walked my tired butt there and was into my room in seconds. I have been sitting ever since. I watched a bit of French X-Factor (why do they always sing in English?) and some football (Real Madrid – turns out soccer is boring in every language). Tomorrow is my last day and I’ve already checked out all of my must-sees. It will be a casual tourism day!