The day started easy enough, we were scheduled for a 12:45 flight to Atlanta, catching a plane to Paris with an arrival time of 6:15am Saturday morning. About 10:45, Brett gets a text from Delta that our flight has been pushed back which would cause us to not make our Paris connection. I panic but Brett calls customer service who was very helpful and got us scheduled on a flight to Minneapolis in 90 mins. So we hustle to the airport, say goodbye to the kids who were staying with both sets of grandparents, and check-in for our flight. Crisis adverted.
Indy to Minneapolis to Paris...... our flight was very smooth. We had individual tv's at each of our seats so that helped pass the time. I think I got an hour or two of sleep during our overnight flight but that was about it. We arrived at Charles De Gaul Airport outside of Paris at 8:30 Saturday morning. Brett had done some research and knew we could take a train| subway | metro from the airport to the city and we were hoping we could figure out how to get to our hotel from there.
Buying our train ticket was frustrating to say the least. Long lines, thin nerves and an ATM like ticket machine that was not the easiest to figure out. But a rep helped us out and we got our tickets. I had asked an employee which stop to get off on to get to the hotel which was on the Champs Elysees (thank you hotel points!!) so I had an idea of how to get there. Now it should be noted that we were traveling without a map. I had a map on my phone and thought that would be enough but I also didn't want to burn through my very little international data package on the first day!
It takes us some figuring out but we were able to change metros at the correct station and finally emerge from the underground and the very first thing I see is the Eiffel Tower!!! A dream come true! We were really in Paris!
We don't have time to check anything out as we are pulling our luggage behind us and really just want to get to the hotel so we check my map, cross the Seine and start hoofing it to the Champs. Well, it was slow going and we were getting frustrated so we quickly hailed a cab which took us directed to the Marriott Champes Elysees.
Our room wasn't ready yet, which wasn't a surprise since it was 10:00 or so. We left our bags and decided to walk around one of the most famous avenues in the world! We walked and did some window shopping at the amazing stores. Changed some money out for euros as well. The Arc de Triomphe was about .5 miles up the road. This was really cool, 12 lanes of traffic all moving in a massive roundabout very quickly without incident! Makes our little roundabouts in Avon look like a joke! I bought a crepe and Brett and I tried to figure out how the heck to get across the road to actually be under the Arc. We knew it was possible, we saw tons of people there but saw no one actually crossing the road. We circled the roundabout 1/2 way and stumbled upon a stairway that lead to a tunnel under the road! Ah-ha!!
It was pretty cool, very, very big. Plenty of tourist. We could have gone to the top but that line was very long so we didn't. Next we went back through the tunnel and started back towards the hotel. We decided to eat at one of the numerous cafes with their outdoor seating. We knew we'd be overcharged since location is everything but heck, when else are we going to eat lunch here??? I don't remember what I got to eat but I remember that it was ok but the wine was better. :)
After lunch we went back to the hotel and found that our room was ready so we were happy to get settled. We both showered and freshened up. We decided to visit the Sacre Coeur church as it was on the opposite side of the rest of the things we wanted to see the next day. So we hopped on the metro and headed north.
Speaking of the metro, the Paris metro was very organized and easy to figure out after a few tries. It was very similar to the NYC subway. We had some hiccups with our passes once in a while not working but for the most part, it was very simple and on time.
We got off within a few blocks of the church and walked up a very crowded touristy street. Every 10 feet was someone trying to sell key chains, sunglasses or the ever present and annoying selfie stick. And there were also gypsies playing 3 Shell Game every few yards. I had read that these were always a rip-off and that the tourist never won because the people watching and winning were always in on the game. For some insane reason, Brett actually stopped and watched part of a game, convinced that he knew where the hidden ball was. The guy running it, lets call him Cheater Bob, notices and starts encouraging Brett to play. I grab Brett's arm and tell him no way, everyone was in on it and it was a scam. Brett was sure he knew where the ball was and actually tried to bet 10e (euros) but Cheater Bob said it was a 50e minimum but he would win back 100e(!!!). I'm still pulling Brett's arm and yelling by this time not to play it. And well, very much out of Brett's character, he hands over the 50e!!! And well surprise, surprise, the ball wasn't under the cup that he had thought it was under. Brett is understandably pissed (one of the guys in on it actually showed Brett the ball under the cup but Cheater Bob moved into Brett's line of sight when he gave him the money, allowing the second guy to move the ball). I'm also mad but I know that he'll be more upset at himself then I ever could be so I let the anger go and switch to teasing the crap about it to him. LOL!! I was so mad that I had to laugh and heck, it would make quite a story.
He's in no mood to tour a church now so we wander around the area for a while before climbing, no joke, 500 stairs, to the top of Montmartre, which is where Sacre Couer is built.
We toured on our own the church with a zillion tourists. It was cool, very large and ornate. After exploring, we left the church to take a rest on top of the massive staircase and enjoy the view of the city. Well, there were about 30 guys walking around with a case of Heineken, selling bottles. Now, we had had a long, long day, had just lost 50e or about $60 to a gypsy, walked a billion stairs and were ready for a beer. After a second of guilt regarding drinking beer on a church's stairs, we succumbed to temptation and drank up. And once you bought one beer, every other guy came over to sell you more! You might not even have taken a drink before they wanted you to buy another! By the time we were done, Brett started to feel better about his gambling loss as we had purchased 6 beers for 11e, what a deal!
Next we hiked down the steps, found a cafe and enjoyed dinner. Just a fast dinner, nothing special. We walked back to the metro, hit a souvenir shop for some shirts and a European power adapter. The shell game guys must have made their money as the road was cleared out. We caught the metro back to the hotel.
It was a really nice evening so we walked around some more, found another bar and ate again. This was more Americanized food so that was kinda disappointing but it was what it was. We were pretty tired by this time and returned to the hotel for some much, much needed rest. We had a busy day ahead of us.
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