Paris - Day the Secondby Jin Choi and Eve Andersson |
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Rolf and I woke at a fine, bright hour, eager to begin our second day of exploration of all the wonders that Paris had to offer. We quickly went through our morning ablutions, readied ourselves to face the world, then called up to Eve and Tracy's room. They required some more sleep! Very well, we took ourselves downstairs, partook of a Gallic breakfast (at one in the afternoon, or 13:00 as they say in French) of gallettes, then sauntered back to rouse the women, sure that they would wake refreshed. Still more sleep. We dejectedly took ourselves off to the corner cafe and drank alternating rounds of beer and coffee for a few hours, then went to a bookstore to see if we could find anything in English. No English material, but some fine French pornographic comics. We returned to the hotel, and found that the cleaning staff had succeeded where we had failed, and met Eve and Tracy in the lobby.
Our first order of business was to see the Eiffel Tower. By metro to the Trocadero station, to the Avenue de New York and across the Pont d'Iéna we came. Up the Tower, around the top, and right back down. Exhilarating, beautiful, and necessary. Eiffel Tower: check. We stopped to get waffles and crepes by the Pont d'Iéna, and promptly misplaced Tracy, who had stopped to buy a waffle then proceeded across, thinking we had gone on ahead. I had visions of us four days later frantically trying to get the police to locate her, but fortunately, we found her quickly. Next order of business: bateau-mouche. Bateaux-mouches are big, 100 person tourist boats that travel up and down the Seine on sightseeing tours. We couldn't actually locate any of those, so we took its smaller cousin, the Bat-O-Bus, to the Pont Neuf, to check out St. Germain-des-Prés. Thanks to my keen sense of direction, we crossed the Pont Neuf and wandered around for a bit before realizing that actually, St. Germain Boulevard was on the side of the river we had just come from. After locating the Boulevard, we wandered up and down the quarter for a while, marvelling at all the locations the guidebook pointed out to marvel at, staring wistfully through the windows of the packed cafe Les Deux Magots, where Hemingway used to hang out, and the Cafe de Flore, where Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir would chill with their buddies. Eve and I entertained thoughts of sitting with a notebook and writing fitfully while nursing cups of coffee, pausing thoughtfully and watching the Boulevard people in between bouts of inspiration. Then we left. We stopped for a brief drink or two at a cafe on the Rue de Buci, which used to house some royal tennis courts, and is quite narrow and quaint. (Much of Paris is narrow and quaint.) A haggard man carrying an onion stopped and asked for a cigarette. We returned in time to our beloved Montparnasse quarter, and dined at an Indian restaurant. Eve was impressed by the decor: blue neon lights shining through intricately carved wooden panels. After dinner, another bout of carousing at yet another corner cafe, with delicious fromage, and Eve's new favorite drink, Kir. Thus ends day 2. Tomorrow, we meet Malte and view some dead bodies. |
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Tracy and Rolf on the Bat-O-Bus.
Eve on the Bat-O-Bus.
Tracy on the Bat-O-Bus.
View from the Bat-O-Bus.
Another building from the Seine.
View from left bank of the Seine, between Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf.
Another view from the left bank.
On the wall of the Institut de France. They want to boycott the mainstays of Western Civilization!
A smoking clown, working the Boulevard St. Germain. This picture cost Eve 10 francs and a bop on the nose.
View of the Trocadero from the Eiffel Tower elevator, going up.
Wind-blown Eve, waiting to ascend to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Eve eating a waffle with Nutella.
Rolf, ever dashing, at the Indian restaurant.
The elderly Beatles found crossing the road on the Right Bank, near the Pont Neuf.
Tracy at a small cafe on the Rue de Buci, in St. Germain-des-Pr s. When informed it was a tapas café, she expressed disbelief that there would be a topless café right on the street.
Eve and Rolf at that same "topless" café.
Pont Neuf, from the Left Bank.
The Eiffel Tower. 92 days to Y2K. Composite from multiple images.
Waiting for the Metro. Continuing Tracy's sleeping tour of Paris.
The Trocadero, from the top of the Eiffel Tower.