Stars Shinning Bright Above You

"Night breezes seem to whisper I love you." Ella babe, you nailed it.

Sweet blissful sleep! We wake up to our surroundings, quickly come to the realization that yes, we indeed are in Paris. That yes, despite yesterday we are going to explore our new surroundings with all the happy anticipation that our first European city on this epic adventure can illicit. We decide our first destination, it’s food! Imagine that. I made a joke with Frank that he should keep a baguette in his pocket at all times on this trip for when I get randomly hungry. We have another successful interaction with a local and the language, which procures each of us a croissant, and decide the Arc de Triomphe is next.

Taking in the sites along the way, we notice the incredible amount of shops, the wide streets, people who are not busy milling around, people who are busy quick stepping it around those with less to do, folks at cafes drinking and eating. It’s incredible, it’s bustling, and the sound of the cars driving and honking are blending in with those of people on bicycles chiming their bells, all being accented by the chorus of individuals chatting away on their phones. This city is a symphony of controlled chaos. There is a scent rising from the wet concrete that is dashed away the moment we walk past a street vendor by the smell of freshly cooking crepes. It is everything I love about a city. Every city has a soul, a distinct pulse to it and Paris is one that is on beat with my own heart. The best way I can describe it is like this – imagine you are in New York but everything doesn’t smell like hot garbage and the people are even more nice. I am on the fence still about which city I love more and right now, Paris is totally pulling ahead.

In the off chance you didn’t know, Frank is a genius. He made sure to research which cities have the most worthwhile pass for us to get, and had us get the Museum Pass. I am so glad he did, it made up for the cost the first day we used it. At the Arc, once we’re able to get across to it, we were ushered to a shorter/non-existent line through security and pointed to the stairs. The monument has never looked exceedingly tall to me, but by what felt like the 500th stair, I began to seriously adjust my opinion on its height. There is a little shop for souvenirs along with a small gallery of uniforms, and after a few more flights of stairs you are at the top of the monument. Being on the very top of the Arc de Triomphe is just incredible, for me it’s extraordinary for a reason you might not immediately jump to. I love watching the traffic! Of course, seeing the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, etc. from this vantage point is real awesome. However, being able to look over the side and see cars, motorcycles, and bikes making their way around the biggest round-a-bout I have ever seen is awe inspiring. Watching several dozen cars come at it and merge in while weaving around several other cars already in the ring just transfixed me. It would have been worth the 12€ just to be able to see that.

We set off on our way down all the stairs making jokes about leg day likely being an everyday thing on our trip and head to get Frank a hoodie. Remember, he still has no clothes aside from what he decided to don two days before. We are trying to make the best of it and he is being the biggest champion. We eventually make our way to a café just to the north of the Pont de l’Alma and have lunch. More lunch than we had anticipated and more awkwardly as well. We ordered a charcuterie plate and among its fellow sliced, cured meats and pate there was a rather large, hard, and in charge stick of salami. It was too dense to cut through so along with the remaining uneaten nibbles we packed it for take away and off we went over Alma’s Bridge to the Musee de l’Armee. Oh, we also saw a tomb of some guy who needed to be buried in a big chapel with lots of ornate decorations, Napoleon I think was his name?

After a stroll through the Musee Rodin and a bit of its gardens, we recall that we still had food in our possession. We hunted, we gathered, we grabbed a mini bottle of wine with accoutrements, and proceeded to have a picnic lunch on the Seine across from the Louvre. The wine was a rosé I will briefly mention as there is a time and a place for everything, and apparently, it was the place and time for warm mediocre rosé.

With full belly’s, a wine opener, a knife, and a salami safely tucked away in my purse we enter the Musee d’Orsay and stay until they make several announcements for everyone to vacate. We walked every inch of this museum we could. The amount of incredible works is astounding, statues and paintings from artists even a schlep like me could recognize and appreciate. We left, maybe a little begrudgingly, and headed off to see the most visited monument in the *world! That’s right Mr. Eiffel Tower, we are looking at you. You sexy beast you!! There is a tremendous number of people selling trinkets around the tower, and if you have room in your suitcase (or even have a suitcase! I swear I'm not bitter) I recommend the experience of buying a bauble from one of these sellers. Are they flimsy? You bet! Are they overpriced? You bet! Can you get overpriced and cheaply made goods a ton of other places? You bet! But, will those places be the blankets in front of the Eiffel Tower? No, they sure won’t.

Without the urge to go through another security line but, with the urge for street meat, we head north across the river and hit up a street vendor for a savory crepe. Walking up towards the Place de Trocodero is an event all its own. Instead of a ton of trinket slingers there are patches of people using the public space as it was intended, for the public. It’s a point that has always made me a little sad, that public places in the US aren’t fully utilized to their potential. That point of contention is story for another day. We make our way further north to the other side, happily up more stairs, because we definitely didn’t climb enough already today. I spy a bar with a wine list and the two of us sit down to write a few postcards while the light show on the Eiffel Tower twinkles in front of us. There isn’t much that could top that so off we head to our home of the moment.

*most visited monument that one has to pay to be on.