October 22, 2017
After a quick cleanup of our AirBnb apartment, we bid farewell to Rod. We will miss our trusty companion and the fabulous meals we’ve shared together. Bon voyage!
Sindy and I moved to the Renaissance Hotel in La Defense, which is the business district of Paris. Steven and I stayed at the hotel several years ago. We found its location at the end of Metro Line 1 convenient, making it easy to get all over Paris. Thanks to my wonderful brother, we used Marriott points for the room.
After unpacking and getting our bearings, we donned our light jackets (blue skies overhead and the temperature was mild) and headed out to take the Metro to the center of Paris. We intended to get on a Hop On/Hop Off bus to do a grand tour of Paris.
Metro tickets were used to get through the turnstiles. A Metro stop was selected; we boarded and transferred to the appropriate train. At the correct stop, we got off and tried to leave the station. Unfortunately, we were stopped for a spot inspection by the transport control. I had put my ticket in my pocket; Sindy put hers in her purse. I found mine and was cleared to leave the building. Sindy could not find her ticket because her bag has a million pockets. Well, slight exaggeration, but when frantically looking for an itty bitty piece of paper in the face of a 34 euro fine, it felt like a million.
The three officers stood there, hands on hips, peering down at us while we pulled the purse apart. After what seemed like an eternity (another slight exaggeration), the ticket was found hiding in an outer pocket. We were free to go.
Above ground, we got a little turned around about where we were supposed to meet the bus. We finally caught one that took us to the main starting point.
I like to do Hop On/Hop Off tours when I go to a new city because it gives a great overview of the important sights. That way, you can pick and choose where you want to return to for a closer look. Since Sindy hadn’t been to Paris before, I thought it would be a good way to cover a lot of ground before delving deeper during the week.
We got seats on the top level of the bus, sat back, relaxed, and listened to the narration in the provided neon green earbuds. The tour commenced.
The couple in front of us were young, seemingly in love (possibly on their honeymoon), and totally obsessed with taking selfies. She turned this way and that positioning herself just so in front of her iPhone screen. (Her phone case looked like a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage.) A selfie of her on the bus passing by the Louvre, a selfie of her on the bus passing the Eiffel Tower, a selfie of her on the bus passing the Arc de Triomphe, a selfie of her on the bus passing a store, a selfie of her on the bus passing another tour bus, and on and on.
He wasn’t any better. His phone was on a selfie stick that he turned this way and that capturing himself in a selfie, then her in a selfie, then him and her together in a selfie. They took not one photo of a monument that didn’t have one of them in it. I’m not sure they saw any of the highlights of Paris because they were looking at their iPhones the entire time. Even when it started raining, they balance their umbrellas in a way that they could capture photographs of themselves under the umbrellas on the bus passing monuments. I mean seriously, does anyone need that many pictures of themselves?
Did I mention it had started raining? Sindy and I (in our light jackets meant for mild sunny days) had slid up to the first row (beside the selfie couple) when others got off the bus. Being in the front row, we were protected from the rain by the windshield, until we weren’t. The wind shifted – we got wet. My little umbrella just wasn’t up to the task of keeping us dry. We didn’t melt; we did, however, get a bit cold.
At the end of the first tour, we attempted to get on the next bus going to Montmartre. However, there was a mixup, and we were left standing on the sidewalk. A lunch break sounded like a good idea. We found a warm bistro, ordered tea, hot chocolate, soup, and a croque monsieur to share, and regrouped.
Sufficiently warmed, we boarded the correct bus, and headed for Sacre Coeur. Once there, we took the funicular up the hill, stopped to take several pictures, and then joined the line to enter the church.
I’ve been to Sacre Coeur several times, but I’d never been inside. It is lovely. Mass was in progress, so we quietly explored, and took photos without flash.
Back outside, I couldn’t help myself from taking lots of photographs of the church’s fascinating angles. I love its architecture and never get tired of looking at it.
At the bottom of the hill, we made our way to the bus stop only to have several tour buses speed away. Apparently, they stopped running our route before we finished our touring. Luckily, there was a Metro stop nearby and, since we were old pros, we jumped on the train to Place de Concorde. We took photos (in the rain) and then walked (in the pouring rain) to a restaurant that looked much closer on the map than it actually was.
Saving grace? The meal was pretty good. We shared a green bean, walnut, and mushroom salad, and an open-faced parmesan Angus burger with the best mashed potatoes I’ve ever tasted. I don’t really know the secret, but I’m going to guess it had to do with butter.
It was still pouring rain, so we huddled under our umbrella, ran to the street, and used our own secret weapon … Uber.
