New Thing #94 - Wanderlust (Paris & Barcelona Day 3)

Month 6 - Wanderlust

December 2, 2018 - Paris: Day 3

So, clearly yesterday didn't quite go as planned, so we had to rearrange our to do list for the day. Originally it was going to be Louvre and Eiffel Tower for the bulk of yesterday, then a Big Bus tour to hit all the highlights of everything else today. Given that our ET tour was rescheduled for this afternoon, we had a day's worth of sightseeing to do in about half the time.

We started with an Uber ride to the top of the city to Sacré-Couer, or the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris. Per Wikipedia, this is the second most visited site in Paris, and after getting there, I can see why. The views of the city were spectacular! It was also great that it wasn't raining and the sun was coming out, so we could enjoy our time outside.

Just some Uber drive-by photos.

Pano view of the city.

Good Morning, Paris! Let's hope today is a better day than yesterday!

That red coat though! Let's be honest, if I was wearing black, this photo would be hella boring.

Gorgeous lines.

It started to get busy, so lots of peeps in the photo.

Well, this is adorable. I wonder where it goes!

I'll be honest, for the 2nd most visited site, I had never heard of this place until we started doing some research on Paris attractions. So glad we made it up here, because the church itself was also incredible inside – but much like a lot of the churches I visit, photos were not allowed inside. We had read online that the dome at the top opened at 9am, so we were hoping to trek to the top for even more baller views of the city.

9:00am hit and the gate wasn't open. We walked down the street to get out of the wind and do a little shopping (and allowed me to try to check in for our Paris>>Barcelona flight tomorrow.)

Sadly, the dome never opened, and I had technical difficulties checking in for our flight. (Turns out that the flight was on a different airline than we originally thought, so I was trying the wrong website. My slow data plan wasn't helping. We did eventually get checked in just fine, after a minor heart attack.)

Not wanting to waste our morning waiting for the dome to open – in typical French fashion, the security guard at the gate was no help in telling us when it would be open – we decided to leave and go catch our Big Bus tour. Basically, we could hop on and hop off of the numerous buses running a loop around the big landmarks of the city. Each bus stopped at each location, and you get off and spend as much time there as you wanted before hopping on another bus that rotated through every 10 minutes or so.

We started at the Opera House, and it was gorgeous from the outside. With it being Sunday, it didn't look open, and we didn't think we'd have time for a tour anyways. There was a slight snafu checking our tickets because the guy at the checkpoint wasn't able to scan the bar code that Sandi had on her voucher. He did come up with a solution to inform the driver of the next bus of our situation, which would allow us to get off at the next stop where the office was and get our tickets scanned properly. Sounded like a perfect plan.

One small problem. When the bus arrived, our helper guide took one look at the driver and said "that driver and I have issues, we do not talk, so you'll  have to explain your situation." Are you freaking kidding me? You're a grown ass man, and you can't have a conversation with the ONE bus driver you seem to have a beef with? Dude, you're like 60 years old. Put on your grown up pants and let's do this.

Luckily, that driver couldn't have cared if we told him we were about to rob him and take the bus for a joy ride through the streets of Paris. Maybe he didn't understand us. Maybe he just didn't care. Either way, he let us on the bus with no tickets. A quick stop at the next location and we got our tickets, then back on the next bus.

The good thing about these, is there is an automated message that explains the city and all the landmarks you're about to see. They're also open air on top, making it a great way to see the city. Unless it's December. It wasn't unbearably cold, but I wasn't keen on removing my ear muffs or gloves to fiddle with the headphones, so I just opted to enjoy the sites, and take as many photos as humanly possible before we got off again.

We spent the rest of the morning on the bus, hopping off to see the outsides of buildings, but never had the time to fully explore any insides. We were determined to make it to the Eiffel Tower on time without any issues, while at least catching a passing glimpse of Paris beforehand.

Big Bus Tour!

Louvre!

Seine!

Um, I saw enough of these yesterday, thankyouverymuch!

MUCH prettier day today to see this, but we didn't go in. We were afraid we'd run out of time.

I didn't know you could GO ON TOP!!! Now, I'm really bummed we ran out of time.

We will take one of these tonight for our Seine River cruise.

Musée d'Orsay - another art museum primarily focusing on French impressionists.

I'm not a huge huge fan of impressionist paintings, and after seeing this long line to get in, I'm even less of a fan. Needless to say, we didn't try to go in.

The Champs-Élysées looks much better than yesterday. No yellow vests!!

Why yes, I am standing in the middle of the street. But, in my defense, I'm in a tiny pedestrian crossing trying to get a photo of the Arc de Triomphe behind me. There were too many people with the same idea, so I captured this shot while I waited.

See? I didn't want all these peeps in my photo.

That one guy in particular was like 6'5". He was ruining all my shots!

Finally managed to nab one!!

Pretty ladies!

Arc de Triomphe - this looks way cooler in black and white to help the cars fade from view. If not, they draw more attention than the Arc does.

Can someone please explain this traffic pattern?!

I'm sure I would know what this is if I had been listening to the tour.

Fancy gold topper though!

Prettiest bridge in Paris!

Soooooooon!!!!

#artsy

 

Tried to get a cool shot of the bridge lights, but that couple never moved.

Once we hopped on and off as much as could, we stopped at the Eiffel Tower stop, even though we were really early for our tour. But, it was everything I wanted and more. Just being there and seeing it in person *mostly made up for the past 48 hours. After we took in the views a bit, we headed nearby to grab a bite to eat in a super tiny restaurant. Man, they really packed us in there!

Tight squeeze!

Croque madame: ham and cheese on toast topped with a fried egg. This one was better than Friday's!

After lunch, we needed to walk off all the carbs, and we wanted to get some close up shots of the ET before our tour started, especially since it would get dark while we were on the tour. Also, had to pick up a few souvenirs before making our way back to the Architecture Museum for our tour start.

Had to.

I really wish there was an explanation for this random bath tub. And I lost count of how many people got into it for a photo. The inside was super gross.

Ahhhhhh!!!! We made it!!!

I took a photo of a girl and cropped everyone else out. She took this photo and said "you can crop it later". Gee thanks.

While it wasn't rainy yet, it was also not warm. Kudos to this lady for the photo shoot (it must have been a photo shoot because there was no groom or any bridesmaids around).

Wondering if this is an accident or an art sculpture.

Trocadero. We were up top taking photos before.

So happy to be here!

Bit windy out...

...told ya!

Prepare yourselves for a billion ET photos.

Well, that's handy!

I guess these are if the poles get cold?

You stay classy, Paris!

I realize this says Jesus Saves in French. However, I kept thinking this must be Jésus, Rico Sauve's brother...

I'm certain this monument is probably a memorial to someone or group of people, but I found it beautiful and mesmerizing.

Look for our album to drop, Fall of 2019.

THIS GUY! I don't know if he was actually feeding the birds as part of his job or he just likes to feed the birds, but FFS, there were birds EVERYWHERE! And I kinda hate birds. I've discovered this. At least birds in big groups. We tried to quickly walk by, but it was a terrifying ordeal.

NO NO NO

After we finished walking around, we had some time to kill, so we went into the Architectural Museum to warm up and use the bathroom. We stopped to look around at these casts of buildings and doorways.

So cool! Shortly thereafter we were asked to leave. Whoopsie!

Boom, time for our Eiffel Tower tour!! Our guide's name was Leye (pronounced Lee), and he gave us all kinds of info about the ET as we made our way back down to it. We had just a little bit of time to kill before we could enter at our given time slot.

Ugh, I wish we had taken our touristy headphone packs and stickers off. Oh well!

So, I found out later than night-time photos of the ET are illegal without giving credit to the lighting artist. The ET is public domain and people can take photos all day err day that they want to. However, the light show is considered an artistic display and is under copyright. So, while taking photos is not illegal, trying to sell the photos or add to magazines or such things is prohibited. So, I'm giving credit where credit is due and I have no plans on selling these photos.

The light show comes on every hour on the hour for 5 minutes once the full ET lights turn on (it's obviously earlier in the winter than the summer).

So pretty!

We made it inside the security fence, just waiting for our designated time to go up!

The architectural details are stunning!

Saw someone else put her phone on the ground and set the timer for this shot. We tried it about 35 times. A group of British millennials saw us doing it and said "That's Lit!" Should we tell them that we got the idea from a 10 year old?

Time to take the tram up one of the legs! (You can also take the stairs if you go on your own, but our tour included the elevator.)

Paris at night!

The 2nd floor. You can go all the way to the top, but that's stupid expensive.

Still a little bummed our day was semi-ruined yesterday, but the upside is that we got to be up here at night!

They had some shops and dining inside, and since we hadn't tried traditional macarons yet, we each picked one up. The raspberry was delish!

Well, that's adorable!

With our guide, Leye!

Fun fact: it was cold as hell up here!

Once we decided to leave, we waited and waited for one of the elevators to arrive, but it was taking forever. We opted to take the stairs instead.

I should mention that Sandi and heights have a love/hate relationship. She was a trooper though and made it to the bottom!

I, on the other hand, couldn't stop taking photos! The architecture of this Iron Lady was breathtaking, and I loved all of the lines and shadows. It took me longer to get down even though I flew down the stairs. I just kept taking photo stops!

This was the only part I hated. Sometimes these lights were right in my eyes, and I couldn't see the steps in front of me. No bueno.

Watching the elevator in the leg.

This may be my favorite photo of the entire trip to Paris!!!

We probably could have stayed up here all night if it wasn't so cold and we didn't have the boat tour down the Seine to do as well. This would have been better yesterday, but we were hoping that there would be an enclosed area to sit. We were freezing.

We were about 20 minutes early for the next departure, but we beelined it for the front of the boat once boarding started. We did stay inside the enclosed area which is not how I would have preferred to do the boat tour, but there was no way in hell you were getting us to sit on the top to be blown about.

We were both tired and hungry at this point, so I can honestly say I was burnt out for this tour. While it was only an hour (30 minutes each way), I was kind of over Paris and ready to move on to Barcelona. I could have also been cranky because I was cold and beyond hungry. We somehow missed the snack station when we rushed to our seats, so I didn't realize I could have bought something to eat. But, it was all kind of snacky stuff, which I wouldn't have wanted anyways.

Being inside behind glass didn't lend itself well to taking photos (too many glares), but I managed a few.

I forgot that Notre Dame is actually on a tiny island in the middle of the Seine.

I understand why large billboards are used to hide construction or restoration going on, but I prefer when places put up photos of what the building should look like instead of giant ads. I also can't figure out why this Balenciaga ad is sideways.

When we arrived back at the dock, I was ready to chew my arm off. While it was a normal hour for Europeans to eat, I was in no mood to find a restaurant, figure out the menu and wait for food. There was a street crepe vendor just beyond the dock, and dear sweet baby Jesus, it was delicious. I really wanted a savory crepe with some protein, but I kind of wanted a sweet crepe with strawberries and nutella as well. I opted for just chicken and cheese (poulette and fromage), and it was trés magnifique! I might have eaten the entire thing before our Uber driver ever showed up!

Crepe making machine!

YUM!!! This was way better than the buckwheat crepe from day 1.

Even with some food in me, Sandi and I were ready to be done with Paris. Perhaps it was the weather (though we knew what we were getting in to by coming in December), but mostly I think it was the protests yesterday and the rude people we met that kind of soured Paris for us. Our hotel night clerk was a big jackass too. He charged us for a meal we didn't eat, then claimed he couldn't reverse the charge. We'd have to take it up with the day clerk who started at 6:30am. Small problem: our flight for Barcelona leaves at 6:30am, so we wouldn't be there to talk to him! He then proceeded to ignore us until we went away. Oh well, at least we get to go to Spain tomorrow!! See ya never, France!