We walked 10 miles in Paris today. Ten miles. And almost all of that was in the afternoon because we had various travel problems.
There was an unhealthy mass of people at the train station in London. (We were the last people on board an already-late train.) We arrived at the first station in France and they blocked off the platform we needed because of a suspicious package. We found a Plan B.
Plan B involved five of the nine people in our group getting on one train and the other four of us not making the train. So I had a nice chat with those people about how they needed to hurry up, and pay attention to something more than their phones. Be good little geese and get on the train.
A list of other things happened that shook every confidence that the group would be able to make original evening rendezvous, so we changed our plans. The Yankee and I were supposed to take a bike tour, but of the seven people with us I expect maybe three could have stuck with the previous plan. So we called an audible, right there under the Eiffel Tower, and we walked a lot. Ten miles! We saw some great stuff, too, which is why my afternoon in Paris is being divided into several posts. Enjoy.
First of all, we saw this brilliant ad in the London Underground this morning:
These are the tickets you use to ride the trains in Paris. There are 10 in a pack and the challenge is to not lose them:
When we finally got to downtown Paris the exit from the subway was about a block and a half from the tower. This is one of the early views:
And, after a day here, I can tell you that Paris in the springtime might be as lovely as everyone says. Now, some more shots of the Eiffel Tower. A guide told me you can see the 324-meter-high from about 30 miles away on a nice day:
Now, we’ve just crossed the River Seine:
And that’s a perfect place for a merry-go-round:
These next pictures come from beneath the Musee national de la Marine. Go to this statue and turn around for the best shots of the Eiffel Tower:
See?
