After a quick drink and snack, more to rest our feet than anything else. We managed to get a bit lost in Paris We really weren't lost we had just turned down a street a few streets too early. However, the walk back to the street of original intent was quite entertaining because it led us past all the foreign embassies. I discovered the United States Embassy and also discovered you can not even walk on the sidewalk in front of the US embassy. It was then we stumbled upon the Paris Christmas Market. The market was absolutely huge and stretched down many blocks on either side of the street. There were booths selling food, crafts, clothing, jewelry, chocolate and Christmas items. My travel companion and I armed ourselves with a massive gingerbread man and roasted chestnuts and explored the entire market. This was by far one of my favorite parts of the trip (I am pretty sure I've said this now three times. It's Paris, I can have multiple favorite parts!) the markets were so festive and it was fun to explore the booths alongside many a Parisian. My favorite booth housed Nativity figurines. In France, the nativity sets are a large part of the Christmas tradition. It is common to add a new piece to the nativity scene each year. Because of this the figures are very diverse, if a new piece is purchased each year the traditional nativity scene would be completed around the age of ten. It was entertaining figuring out how a fireman, lion, baker, dragon, a random man carrying goats, chimney sweep, etc. would fit into a scene dipicting the birth of Jesus.
A quick turn from the Christmas Markets led us down the Champs Elysees. The street lived up to all its magnificient descriptions. Before leaving for Paris I had read there is strict control over the window displays of all the shops along the road, hoping to create only the best atomosphere for Paris' most famous street. A tunnel under the street took us to the Arc De Triomphe. The Arc was beautifully lit in the evening and we purchased tickets to journey to the top. Because the line for the Eiffel Tower had been so long it was decided to not journey to the top. However, I really wanted an expansive view of the city and the Arc provided this. After wandering around the base of the arch we made our way to the top. Now, keep in mind Scotland has provided some climbing training (Please see the blog entry on Stirling). The winding staircase seemed to go on for ages but finally the top was reached. The French have installed a nice system of two staircases, one for going up and one for coming down. This is really quite nice and didn't create any problems of crossing paths with people going in opposite directions on a cramped staircase, as was the case in Stirling. The views from the top were fantastic. The Arc was much quieter than the Eiffel Tower and we shared the amazing views with only ten people and to top it off the Eiffel tower lit up as we stood high above the streets of Paris.
Seeing that it was nearing 10:30 we debated whether or not to get dinner. Since the food of day has consisted of toasted cheese sandwiches and gingerbread, dinner was in order. But, it was 10:30 on a Friday night on the Champs Elysees and we were without reservations. Walking down the road we came across a McDonalds. I recommended we go there, it was late, we were exhausted and we knew what to expect at McDonalds. However, all day we had been seeing signs for Quick which served "Mon French Burger" Richard decided this choice was far superior to McDonalds. Standing in line at Quick there was a large note plastered over "Mon French Burger." Pointing to the plastered word Richard asked "Do you think that means they're out" to which I responded "I'm pretty sure that means they are out of your Mon French Burger." It was at this moment we headed back down the road to McDonalds. Right outside McDonalds there was a large ad for Quick featuring Tony Parker urging everyone to partake in Mon French Burger, Richard looking at the sign and shook his head in disgust, "I can't believe Tony lied to us." I couldn't believe Tony lied to us either but I was fairly anxious to have a quick bite to eat and then get some sleep. We stood in line for nearly half an hour and then took our food upstairs. I ate my very first Big Mac in Paris on the Champs Elysees across from tough looking Parisian teenagers. After a few moments of exhausted silence, Richard turned to me and said "Aren't you glad I got us a table by Paris' own NEDS?"
The Metro took us back to Montmartre, coming from a new metro station we were slightly turned around and took an extremely round about route back to the hotel. As the door to our hotel room swung open I flung myself across my bed kicking off my shoes. After surveying the damage done to our feet we began to reveal how exhausted we had become throughout parts of the day. We both revealed that we had feared whether or not we would actually make it to the top of the Arc and how collapsing actually felt possible in the impressively long McDonalds line. A good night's sleep was absolutely needed as a full day was planned for Saturday.
On Saturday, the plan was to go to Versailles. A common dilemma with travelling is where to store one's luggage while taking full advantage of the time available at a particular destination. Fortunately, there are many places that you can store luggage. Unfortunately, many of these places charge a particular sum of money per hour. That is where the following plan comes into action.
How to get Hotel Staff to Monitor your Luggage After Check-Out:
1. First, size up the hotel staff and decide who in your party has the greatest chance for success. This will be different each time, in Paris it was decided I would have the highest rate of succes. As we entered the lobby for checkout Richard told me "Okay, I need you to go bat your eyes at the Frenchman behind the counter." To which I responded "What?!" to which I recieved a look and a "Your turn, go"... I knew what that meant, luggage storage time.
2. After it is decided which person will have the most success, employ what I refer to as the"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" Trick. You want the hotel employee to believe that the idea to keep your luggage is their own. I stepped up to the hotel counter and handed over the room keys and stated the following "We are going to Versailles today and have absolutely no idea what to do with our luggage. Do you have any idea where we could store it?" To which the very nice Frenchman behind the counter responded "We could keep it here!" and quickly took our bags and made a special place for them behind the counter.
3. Thank the hotel person profusely, they are doing you a big favor!
4. Exchange a behind the back high five with your travel partner.
We were wished a very happy journey to Versailles and exchanged a few more conversational bits with the hotel employee and were off on our day's journey. We stopped quickly at a Patisserie for breakfast. Because I hadn't had any clumsy moments since Stirling my good luck was bound to run out. I balanced our breakfasts, an umbrella, a handbag and two metro tickets as we boarded the train. Here is where the first slip up ocurred. After rushing into the station from the rain, I tossed my wet umbrella into my handbag on top of the nice French cake I bought that morning. The cake, of course, was squashed and whipped cream managed to get on quite a few things inside my bag. We were given two return tickets. Each ticket was to be used twice, once at the metro and once for the train. (Remember, this for later on).
The ride to Versailles was fairly simple and we quickly grabbed a coffee and tickets to the Chateau before beginning the actual tour. The first item of note in Versailles were the umbrella salesmen. Now, I am not generally a huge fan of salesman, but I would not be opposed to Glasgow having a few of these! As we wandered through the halls of Versailles it was easy to see why the French people became so distraught with their royalty. Versailles is so over the top. It's gorgeous and absolutely impressive but wildly elaborate.
After we had strolled through the gardens and had a quick lunch it was time to make our way back to Paris and then Glasgow. We had to catch a bus back to Beauvais three hours before our plane was scheduled to depart. We were working under a very tight schedule. We approached the train gate and as I slid my ticket through it was denied, I tried it again and again each time getting the same result, denial. Richard whizzed right through the gates and waited on the other side. Still unable to get through I went and spoke to the ticket sales woman. Apparently, in my morning rush I had used one ticket for the train and the other for the metro therefore canceling out my return ticket. Frustrated, I quickly bought a new ticket and passed through the train gate. Fortunately, the train ride went quickly and we rushed up the stairs to exit and once again ticket denied. I ran the ticket through again and again, denied and denied. Richard was once again on the other side. I rushed downstairs to speak to another ticket sales person. While running down the stairs I reached into my pocket and found the correct ticket, I had scanned the incorrect ticket. Fortunately, this time the ticket went through and we finally made it to the other side. After a metro ride and a run to our hotel we collected our bags. We actually had only one bag. Ryanair charges for any checked on luggage so we decided to save money we would share a bag. I forgotten that the bag I had selected to bring was broken on my way to Glasgow and the handle no longer functions. Therefore, the bag had to be carried. At this point in the evening we had half an hour to make it across Paris during rush hour. We quickly made our way to the metro station purchased tickets and managed to squeeze onto a train crammed with people. The ride was long and we needed to make one train change. As the train unloaded we ran to our next train and piled on. The car was packed with people, no one was seated, as we stood in the midst of all these people a voice came over the loudspeaker and barked something in French. Of course, we had no idea what was being said but tokk it to be not good news as the entire car unloaded. After waiting a few moments we decided to walk. Up the stairs we went to the Champs Elysees. At this point, we had no euros left and are forced to make the mileish walk. Having already missed our bus departure time we hurried down the streets with the hope of discovering the bus had waited. As I navigated the streets, I turned around one last time to see the Arc De Triomphe and Richard red faced with a suitcase on his head. After 15 or so gruelling minutes of street navigation we arrived at the bus station and learned our bus had left, without us. I talked to yet another ticket salesman and happily heard that another bus was leaving in five minutes. This bus accepted our tickets and we made it to the airport in perfect time to go through security.
While the last few hours of our trip were slightly hellish no planes were missed, no luggage lost, no travel partners killed and no tears shed (the last one was a close call!). I can safely say that Paris met and exceeded all my expectations. The city was as beautiful and captivating as it is made out to be and is certainly deserving of a return trip.
**As a side note, I invite any people who are involved in the stories on this blog to write their own versions of what has occured, I will happily post those stories!
