Paris, France. Tuesday, 3rd May 2022
Woke up at 06:00, after a good night's sleep. The fatigue of yesterday had vanished. Readied ourselves by 09:15 and went down to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. The fare seemed limited - mainly bread with preserves - butter, jam , honey, cheese. There was a variety of breads, of course. Non-veg (Salami; eggs) was conspicuous by its absence. We both thought that the hotel served only veg stuff. Urmila spoke to reception about this and we were shocked to know that non-veg was included in the menu! It seemed that a few callous customers who had finished their breakfast before we reached, had consumed a lot of the non-veg stuff with the hotel being unable to replenish the stock in time! How careless!
Set off for the famous Arc de Triomphe at 10:00. Following Google maps, we strolled leisurely along Avenue de Clichy, a beautiful, straight road, lined by trees and shops/restaurants on either side. The weather was good and contributed to the ambience. Purchased Lindt Creme Brulee and a double pack of Lindt Milk at a convenience store. After some more time strolling, clicking and appreciating, we came to an area known as Brochant-Cardinet. Turned right and found the bus stop where we awaited bus no. 31. It came soon enough and we boarded the swanky trailer-bus. It took us through beautiful boulevards and housing areas that really give the city its 'Europe' look. Alighted at the penultimate stop amidst colourful shops and restaurants, most of the latter had outdoor seating. Sauntered in the direction of the arc, in bright sunshine and a cool breeze. Soon arrived at the magnificent structure that stood at the centre with around a dozen roads radiating outwards.
Clicked pictures, strolled around, walked along th e world famous Champs Elysees, the magnificent tree-lined boulevard. For the first time, we felt we were in a top class capital city of Europe. However, Andrassy Avenue, leading up to the Heroes' Square in Budapest, Hungary, is far more impressive, but hardly given its due! After soaking in the ambience for some more time, we walked back to the road by which we had approached the Arc after alighting from the bus.
Lunched at Siam Thai - a good Thai restaurant, on a set lunch menu : chicken salad with vermicelli as the starter, fried rice and a chicken dish as the main course, rounded off with lychees for dessert. Of course, I had beer too - a pint of Heineken, tap beer being unavailable. Crossed the road and made our way to the bus stop to catch no. 31 back to Brochant-Cardinet. the bus soon arrived and we enjoyed the ride along the same route, again. From Brochant-Cardinet we walked back to our hotel. Rested.
Stepped out again at 18:15, for the visit to the Eiffel Tower (pre-booked at Nashik itself). Took the same route as last evening's : the 'C' line RER train from Port de Clichy to Champ de Mars Eiffel Tower. As we waited on the platform, there was a long announcement in French. On the indicator a message was scrolling on a red background. We sensed something was wrong and asked a youngster standing close by . He explained that there was an accident somewhere on line 'C', hence trains on that line would be running late and would be skipping a halt or two. We were a little concerned but the boy assured us that the train we were waiting for would arrive within the time indicated and would take us to our destination. Relief! The train did arrive and we rode on its upper deck, reaching our destination without incident. Once again, I enjoyed the view of the Eiffel as the train was crossing the Seine. This time I ensured that Urmila saw it too.
Duly alighted at our station and walked (via the restaurant where we had had the pizza last evening) towards entrance 2 of the world famous monument. Turned left after a while on Gustav Eiffel avenue. The size of the massive structure struck us for the first time! It was simply awesome! Joined the queue for 'those with tickets', in a beautiful garden just outside the tower. Progressed slowly, through two security checks and towards the lift that would take us up, up into the highest reaches of the Eiffel! The lift was a beauty, replete with old world charm and in perfect working condition. It was meant to accomodate not more than twenty-two people. The experience of going up the tower was great, similar to the one at Burj Khalifa last November, yet vastly different! The lift at the Burj was modern and swanky, closed on all sides and took one to the 135th floor in a jiffy! here the lift took its own sweet time but one could see outside as one climbed higher. It stopped at level 1 and then went up further. We then had to change lifts to go to the summit. But, it wasn't as easy as that! We had to join a huge, serpentine queue - there were hordes! None of the persons present there was donning a mask! To hell with Covid !! The queue did not pause for long but kept on moving, so we were never bored. It was interesting to watch other tourists - couples, families with kids, solo, all of them! All were well dressed; plunging necklines were not uncommon! One could hear different languages being spoken. The Eiffel Tower had turned into a melting pot of cultures! The second lift brought us to the summit. Well, almost, as we still had to climb one flight of stairs to reach the top!
The 360 degrees view of the city from all the levels was breathtaking, especially that of the river down below! The only discomfort was the fiercely blowing chill breeze` Nevertheless, it was an evening to remember. An evening in Paris! We were through by 20:30 or so and returned to the hotel by the same route; thankfully no alarms! Ate at Burger King, bang opposite the B&B, at Avenue de Clichy. The chicken was good. Back to our room by 21:45 or so. Washed, changed, packed bags. Penned a little of this diary entry and then off to sleep; not before setting an alarm for 05:45 the next day. Have to leave for Dusseldorf in my favourite country, by the much touted Thalys!
