Having departed from Amsterdam train station and all things phlegmish, we are traveling 200 miles per hour backwards on a bullet train, the TGV.
The guy sitting across from us was a total Robert Downey, Jr. lookalike but clearly the total French businessman with obligatory tweed coat (collar turned up) and I-Phone & Apple computer. You'll notice everyone in the train had their notebook. A potpourrie of languages hit us with the breakfast server being fluent in at least three.
Once chcked into our biopsy slice-sized room at the Timhotel - Paris, we set off to see the Champs de Elisee and as much of town as possible. Not! Our feet were so sore after 2 miles of walking, we set back for the room for a short nap before attacking the Louvre. We didn't really expect to see much of it, but at 6:00 sharp out tickets allowed us access to (as they say in French) the whole shebang.
You don't race through the Louvre and, while we did walk by some pretty amazing artwork without fully taking it in, we made a beeline for the Mona Lisa.
We were not disappointed. They have moved the Da Vinci to its own room and made more room for viewing although I was surprised to find it took us no time at all to get a front row viewing of the famous lady. While there were probably 50 people in the room, I guess I expected more like 200 so...there it was. Rather small but well-lit and easy to see. I choked up a little but after a few minutes, gathered my strengh and Margi and I bolted for the Rembrandts at the end of the hall (which, by the way was probably 1/4 mile down the hall as the crow flies).
Between the oil paintings, Egyptian statuary, amazing French and Italian art and so much more, we stopped at 9:30 for a glass of wine just as our feet exploded.
Next, a walk up the Chamnps de Elisee and a short time at the Arch de Triumph (Margi in lower right hand corner). We were lucky to catch the Jump on - Jump off bus so from there it was a short ride to the Eiffel Tower.
Neither Margi nor I was prepared for the sheer scope of this monument. The base could encompass a football field and, despite the crouds (no time to go to the top with our timeline) we got a rather unique photo memory...from the bottom up!
There was a peace demonstraction tatking place that I was priviledged to photograph before we reached 'ground zero'
So...how much can you do in Paris is 24 hours? Well, quite a bit as it turns out if you don't sleep. However, I don't recommend going w/o sleep if you've just arrived from 1/3 way around the world. Thank goodness for the wine!
Oh, I forgot to mention, when we arrived in Paris at the train station, we got in line to buy tix for Milan only to learn none were available until Monday. That would have shot our chances for staying in Como so we decided instead to find a flight to Milan. EasyJet had one for...well, cheaper than anyone else so we booked it so as to stay on schedule.
Margi has complained she didn't get pinched in Paris but she did get two spider bites in Milan. So much for the romance of it.
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