The Adventures of Jon and Becky: January 2011

....late sleep-in. Lazy grocery breakfast. Headed back to the riverboat quay for our consolation cruise. The boat-ride and the audio narrative that accompanied it gave us a fresh perspective on the city we had been exploring by foot. Truly, Paris is a beautiful city with much to offer.

After lunch, we preceded to the Eiffel Tower for a last-ditch attempt at reaching the top. Two and a half hours of waiting in the cold and €13 later, we were crammed into a large, two-floored elevator car in the south corner of the tower. The climb to the first observation deck was amazing and the climb to the second observation was incredible. The view from the second elevator car through the steel lattice of the tower on the shrinking city below gave each of us vertigo. Views from the tower summit were truly magnificent. A real must-see for any Paris visitor.

Passing under a bridge on the Seine.

Listening to the commentary on really large, cold, metal earphone devices. Press 2 for English.

Musée d'Orsay from the river. Did you know the museum was once a train station?

A mini Statue of Liberty

The napkin underneath Jon's Pepsi (served in a Pepsi glass) at lunch

The long wait at the Eiffel Tower was hard on all of us. The little guy is simply a party balloon filled with flour, purchased from a trinket vendor for €1.50

The view of the tower from our spot in line. The first elevator travels through the center of the leg in the picture.

A view of the elevator climbing up the shaft from inside the loading area. It was warmer in there.

They really crammed people in!

Becky and the city. She is so well illuminated because of the combination sparkling lights of tower and the slow shutter speed of the camera. (The tower sparkled intensely once an hour)

Jon and the city

Becky at the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Alexander Eiffel still lounging in his top-of-the-tower chambers (life-size models, of course). Wish we could have hung out in there

Wait, does the red line through the picture mean you aren't supposed to do that?

Calzone, Orangina, and a warm foot soak at the end of the day. The calzone had a raw egg in it. mmmmm

We slept in till 10:00, ate a grocery-store breakfast and then lazily wandered up the Champs d'Mars for photos of the Eiffel Tower.

We boarded the metro and headed over to Musee d'Orsay.

Viewed many beautiful originals by Monet, Manet, and Van Gogh (unfortunately for us, Orsay Museum had a strict no-photo policy). It warmed my artistic heart greatly just to stand in the presence of these beautiful paintings. After the somewhat lengthy stay at the Louvre yesterday we decided to keep this visit short and sweet--and it certainly was. By sticking to the hall of paintings dedicated to the 3 artists listed above, we allowed ourselves enough time for repeated viewings, which really allowed us to soak in the beauty. I wrote down my absolute favorites.

Headed back to the hotel for a preparatory nap at around 14:00. Woke up at 17:30 and got ready for our big event. Left the hotel at 19:45 for the riverboat quay. Boarded our land-locked riverboat at 20:30. Broke bread and sipped wine at 21:00. To our relief, very few (if any) people had cancelled their reservation on the boat. At just about every table sat smiling guests. Everyone was ready for a good time.

Despite our cruise being cancelled (thanks to an unusually high water level in the Seine river), we had a very enjoyable night. Dinner was served in 6 courses, some good, some not so good. We were served two bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne.

1. Shellfish on a bed of white bean puree (6/10, decent)

2. Foie gras of duck with soaked figs (2/10, foie gras tastes like stinky cheese crossed with something else really disgusting)

3. cheese and salad (5/10, typical french cheese and a refreshing green salad)

4. sea bass (8/10, a breath of fresh air! tasty sauce)

5. filet mignon (9/10, mmm a nice, meaty finish)

6. ice cream under a chocolate dome and coffee (7/10)

Our friendly neighbors quickly became our 'celebration comrades'. The language barriers between us (Italian speakers to our left, French speakers to our right) enabled us to celebrate with our neighbors innocently, unimpeded by clumsy words; all we needed to share were smiles and toasts of champagne.

Becky wore Jon's shoes on the walk home. Jon walked sock-foot.

What a fun night. As a consolation for our cancelled cruise, we received vouchers for standard sight-seeing river cruise...