Tourists ... But not Quite

The boys have been insisting that we go to the Eiffel Tower, which I suppose I can understand, given its status as the one image most likely to pop into your head when you hear "Paris." So today we decided to get it out of the way (neither Suzie or I were very thrilled about going). So we got up early and got going early, to try to beat the crowds. About 4 blocks from our apartment is a bus route (the 82) that goes directly to the Eiffel Tower, so we decided to use it. (The Metro is more efficient, but as I may have mentioned, it doesn't give you the feel of what the city is like between "here" and "there.") The bus took longer than the Metro, but it was a beautiful, peaceful ride, mostly through the suburb (Neuilly sur Seine) directly south of Levellois, where we are staying. Neuilly looks to be extremely upscale, with clean, wide, tree-lined boulevards and obviously expensive apartments and shops; Suzie, whose dream has become buying an apartment in Paris to retire, added it to the list of prospective areas in which to buy.

Eventually the bus dropped us off right in front of the Eiffel Tower, where we were stunned to find an enormous line of people waiting to go up the northwest leg. Fortunately, we saw that there was another entrance (the northeast entrance) with no line whatsoever, so we headed there. It was the entrance to walk to the 2nd platform, which is what we had intended to do anyway. The walk to the first platform was a piece of cake, the walk to the second slightly more difficult (our hearts were beating pretty good by the time we arrived). Suzie has a fear of heights (her last similar attempt, a ride up the Space Needle in Seattle, was a disaster), so she stayed on the second stage while the boys and I went up the elevator to the top. I have to say, I was more impressed with the view than I thought I would be. It was a hazy day, so the city looked a bit murky, but still it was worth the trouble.

The most interesting aspect, though, was the complexity and size of the tower. The intricacy of the bracing, the number of rivets and the sheer mass of the steel used was amazing. It seemed to be incredibly solid; even up high there was no sense of being in an unsafe situation.

After descending, we walked across the Seine to the area called Passy. After being overwhelmed with tourists at the tower (we were in the middle of a horde of high school students from Idaho most of the time), we were relieved to be in an area that seemed tourist-free. We eventually found our way to a boulangerie (pictured below)that had a sit-down area for lunch, and had an excellent lunch (chicken and cous-cous salad for Suzie, spinich quiche for me, and chicken sandwiches on fresh bagettes for the boys), then went to a small Monet museum (the paintings there were "donated" by the artist's family in lieu of inheritance taxes). It was interesting to see, in a series, the different ways Monet painted the same scene. After that visit, we went back to the boulangerie where we'd lunched, and got pastries, then walked around the neighborhood a bit more (with a detour at a toy store; thankfully, French computer games are on a different system, so wouldn't work at home), found the Metro, and came home.

Suzie and I agreed we have gotten a real sense of Paris through our long walks, and while we've seen (and will see) almost all of the tourist-type stuff, we've also seen a great deal that many tourists probably don't see. We continue to be surprised by the friendliness of Parisiens, and by how comfortable we both feel here.

If we get a second wind, this evening we are going for a cruise on the Seine. More later. Pictures follow.