From Luxembourg to Paris our guide gave us a lot of
information about Paris. The first thing we pass after passing into France was
a nuclear plant. About 70% of the power in France comes from nuclear and 30%
comes from hydroelectric.
Paris is a circle with the Seine River dividing it in half,
north to south. The left bank is the south and right bank is the north. Our
hotel is on the west side of the right bank. It is right next to the Eiffel
Tower.
You can get around Paris by Metro, RER, bus, walking, bike
or taxi. The Metro has has numbered lines and is easy to access. The RER is
another metro type of transportation with lettered lines and is used more for
the suburbs and has less stops inside Paris. It is a high speed subway. She
said the downside with the buses is that they can get stuck in traffic. Taxis
are available everywhere, but are more expensive. They have bike stations all
over where you can rent a bike and then return it to another station. We had
this same setup in Minneapolis.
For views of the city, the Eiffel Tower gives you an
excellent view, but you cannot see the Eiffel Tower from the Eiffel Tower. She
suggested that we go to the Ugly Tower, Gar Montparnasse, which is just as
high, but you can also see the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower lights us each
night and puts on a light show on each hour after sunset.
For shopping she recommend Gallery Lafayette, which is
supposed to be beautiful inside. You can go to the rooftop for free and see the
whole city. It is not as high as the Eiffel Tower, but it is at the level of
most of Paris, which she called the grey roof of Paris.
There are 20 districts in Paris, with each slightly
different. One of the ones she recommended that we go to would be the Latin
District, where the architecture is different than the rest of Paris. Notre Dam
Cathedral is another place she recommended we visit. It is located on an island
in the Seine River. The district south of Notre Dame is the Old District.
North of Paris on the right bank is Mont Martre, Mountain of
the Marches. There is a little church up there that is suppose to be a must
see. This district is the art district. There is a windmill and vineyard in
this district. You can either take stairs up there or an escalator.
The middle eastern right bank is the Jewish District. It is
also the gay district. She said it has the best falafel. This is a very
pedestrian district.
She then talked about food. Frog legs, cuisses du
grenouilles, are very popular in Paris as well as foie gras, goose liver, which
is eaten on toasted bread. Another specialty of Paris is Lapin, rabbit. And, finally,
we have snails.
A Brasserie is a café and they post their menus on the
sidewalk. They tend to be less expensive than the restaurants. Their food is
usually made daily. Crepes are also a staple of Paris. You can have sugar ones
for dessert, or dinner crepes. Where our hotel is located is the tourist
district, so will be a little more spendy.
On every corner is a bakery with fresh pastries and bread. For
the best hot chocolate she recommended Café Angelina that is near to the Louvre.
Another item she recommended is the macaroon.
Here are a couple of pictures from the stop we made on the
trip to pick up a view goodies for the trip.
Here are a couple of pictures of our room. Much larger than
that on the ship. I will post pictures of the ship at the end of this blog.
Lastly, this from our dinner on this first night. We walked
down from the hotel and found this great little café. We shared a plate of
smoked meats and mashed potatoes mixed with cheese. It all came with bread is
was delicious. We were ready for bed.
Tomorrow we have a bus tour of Paris and then we have
tickets to go to the Louvre.
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