August 03, 2011
My goodness, I have been utterly exhausted every night since I left Dallas. Between walking hours each day and taking very, very few breaks during the day and filling each day to the fullest with memories...I’m smack dab wiped out!
I plotted out a full day in Paris and we hit every planned site. You would be so proud and impressed with me. I navigated us all over the city. We walked and rode the subway everywhere. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you we walked about 9 hours today. I’m also not exaggerating when I tell you we took over 50 individual subway rides and climbed over 1,000 stairs up and down to catch the Metro!!!!
I don’t even know if I can remember everything we did today. We started out with a traditional Parisian breakfast at a sidewalk cafe. (Lots of bread!) Then we went to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Palace of Justice. Then we stopped for a cappuccino at another sidewalk café. Then we went to the Flower Market. It was so peaceful. Then we went to the Louvre. (Although, we didn’t go through it; only inside of it.) One of the things we learned on our boat tour yesterday was that if you took one minute to view each piece of art in the Louvre, it would take four months to see everything!!! There was a little mall/arcade attached. We went to the Fossil store and Jennifer bought a charm bracelet and some charms. I bought a cappuccino charm to commemorate our trip.
From there we walked through the Tuileries. This is about 16 kilometers of green lawns, flowers, ancient trees, fountains and marble statues. It was our favorite part of the whole trip. For starters, we sat beside a huge fountain and had quite the Zen moment. It was overcast. There were birds landing in the water. There was a cool breeze and it caught the spray from the fountain and gently sprinkled our faces. Children were giggling beside us. We could have stayed there all day.
The second best moment of the day was when we had lunch in the middle of the Tuileries beside a pond. To be honest, the Tuileries is the only reason I can see that people would adore Paris so much. Everything else is just stinky and dirty. I just don’t get it. But, this place made it all worthwhile.
From there, we went to a Parfum Museum and took a tour. It was really fascinating and we learned everything we would ever want to know about perfume. (Then they tried to sell us a bunch of perfume.) After that, we went to a place called “St. Paul Village,” which is a three-block radius of antique shops. Unfortunately, most of them were already closed and the ones that weren’t, were exorbitantly expensive.
By this time is was 7:00 at night and we needed to make our way back toward home via a few more Metro connections. I wish I could describe how disgusting the Metro stations are. Let me just say, and again, I’m not exaggerating, there are narrow trough-like channels alongside the walkways and stairs. And, people urinate and defecate in them. And, you can actually see it!!! Poor Jennifer, with her finely-tuned sense of smell.
We got back to the hotel room and I took a hot bath and then a cold shower. My body was dripping with sweat but my feet and legs were aching. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, so I did both.
Tomorrow, we will catch a morning cab to the Paris train station. Then, we will take the Eurostar train to St. Pancras train station in London. Then, we will go beneath the station and catch a 60-minute subway ride to Heathrow airport. We will arrive below the airport and make our way to our terminal. Our plane leaves at 3:15 and arrives DFW at 7:20.
It will be beyond words wonderful to get home. I have missed my children so much and I never want to leave again. I will be home tomorrow. Wow, that feels good to be able to type. I’m already home in my heart.
To view photos from this trip, visit my Facebook Page.
Posted by weblion at 06:35 PM
