Atel Hotel Bersolys St Germain Paris

We had a rather crazy start to this trip. We weren't going to leave until late evening for Paris. Melena decided to go to Dover for the day. All was going well, with plenty of time to spare, until there was bus confusion in Dover. Apparently, according to a couple of Dover residents I have since talked to, the bus drivers there are...shall we say...independent. After much time, phone calls, and stress, Melena was headed to ...

... the Sud (south) tower and get in line. As I am waiting, I notice that the electronic bulletin board is saying that the top floor is currently closed. I am very disappointed. I see some soldiers walking by and I do not recognize their rifles. I try to get my camera out quickly so I can snap a photo for later identification, but I pretty much just get a picture of their backsides. That truly wasn’t my intent. While I wait, I occupy myself ...

... the locals, eating from street stalls, tipping our noses at those staying in 5 star hotels, riding around in cushy buses, being led around like lambs with meals and breaks mandated. Two weeks into a four week backpacking trip in China, I wanted to sell my son to be one of them. We travelers are a snobbish lot. I'm also a flyfisherman. I know about snobbery. It's ugly; I'm guilty. The world deserves to see the world - tourist or traveler. Curiosity should be encouraged. The ...

... whole time. There was also one time when I ordered a sandwich in French, and the guy replied in Spanish. Teeny tiny Spanish words kept sneaking in here and there, but for the most part I did pretty well.

I arrived in Paris on Saturday morning on Chinese New Year and spent a few hours following a parade around town. It was wonderful: loud, colorful, and filled with explosions.

I've been to Paris a couple times before, and for this trip I vowed to see new stuff. First on ...

... on High Dreidel Frosty The Snowman God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman Grandma ...

... moped riders and cyclists going all over the place in the roundabout at the base. No lines and it seems people pretty much go wherever they like! Don't know about a car sandwhich here... more like car scrambled eggs! ha ha. Arc itself is quite awe inspiring with the French flag suspended from the very middle flying patriotically in the breeze. We then continued on down the Champs Elysees which is very pretty and has lots of beautiful ...

... sparkle' on the hour. Traffic is crazy on the roundabout at the bottom. A six lane roundabout + no lane markings = one accident every 11 minutes + no insurance company in France will cover you. After climbing back down all the stairs (check out the awesome picture of the winding staircase) we took a stroll along the Champs Elysee. All the shops were still open, even though it was 7:30 on a Sunday night people! That's my kind of city.

... we had been up like 38 hrs, with like 3 hrs sleep...and tons of walking. we ended up missing our stop on the train, and ended up like super far out of the city...the train went a while before it stopped...so that sucked. like 2 hurs later we got our bags, and finally got to the lady's house with th beds around 130...but she never had given us a key...so more waiting until someone came down to open the door. finally 230pm we went to sleep. we were crazy ...

... other coffee places better, but I hadn't had a chai tea latte with soy milk for so long and Starbucks was familiar and reminded me of home. There are 19 around Paris, and we managed to go to four throughout the weekend! It's fun because the ones we found had a second lounge area upstairs where you could sit and watch people on the sidewalks below. Well if you've made it this far, I'm amazed. I still can't believe how much I crammed into four days, and I could tell more stories. The ...

Really hot and sunny today. Hit Notre Dame, the Luxembourg Estate, Napolean's Tomb, Rodin Museum, the cemetaries and finally the top of the Eiffel Tower. Then napped on the lamn at the foot of the tower before headng back to eat. The Louvre will have to wait till next time. Paris is a huge, sprawling city that we didn't even scrape the surface of.