”It’s Wednesday, [you’re American] so you must be in Paris” commented the Irish family waiting with us in Cinque Terre train station. She was referring to the penchant of Americans (although judging by the many other nationalities we’ve seen, I suspect it’s the penchant of others outside the grand ole U-S-of A) to do whirlwind tours of Europe with a different city a day. And I suppose, by our itinerary, she’s somewhat correct in describing our trip. Nevertheless, it was Wednesday and we were, indeed, in Paris.
Colin’s day of planning started out with a slight rearrangement of schedules: he had us going to the Eiffel Tower in the afternoon. I played the mom card (because who are we kidding when it comes to who’s really in charge) and “helpfully” declared that we would do the Eiffel Tower while we were all (relatively) fresh and not hot and tired yet. It proved to be a wise decision (no comment needed here…) as the crowds continued to grow later in the day.
We found one of the shorter lines to queue up in and happily discovered that it was the line to walk up. This excited the kids because they had been looking forward to climbing the Eiffel Tower ever since they heard we were going to Europe. Off we started, with few complaints and with relative ease – all of that precious bell tower/stair climbing and all… It was commented on again that people at home pay good money to climb stairs that go nowhere at the gym and we were getting the benefit of climbing (possibly) the world’s and most certainly Europe’s most famous structure in addition to the great workout. It was a beautiful and clear day too; a little on the warm side which came in to play later. Reaching the first level didn’t take long and we meandered around admiring the view. The most excitement was felt on looking for and finding the ferris wheel that the kids rode the day before. Up another level – this was a bit scarier climb for mom and for Edwin, but both soldiered on. The second level up had even better views. It was at this point that we decided to purchase extra tickets to take the elevator all the way to the top. The only person not wanting to go was Colin – because he thought it would take too long and eat into his careful schedule (the one that included internet time back at the hotel.) He was convinced to come up with us, given the argument that whether he came or not, *we* were still going, so he’d have to wait anyway.
And this is the point of the day that the heat of an August afternoon in Paris came into play. When in line for and riding on the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower, personal space is not really a priority. So you are treated to a rather pungent experience. It’s almost like being in a small classroom with 35 6th graders on an April day after the lunch recess. And I’d like to point out now that while very beautiful and refined a city Paris is, it doesn’t smell all that fantastic. Most of the time it smells like you are walking through an ashtray as the majority of smoking is done on the sidewalks outside of the buildings. And when I say majority, I mean majority – as I would probably be hard pressed to find one Parisian who doesn’t smoke. Then there are the general city smells common to all major cities that when warmed up by the summer sun, don’t lend to themselves toward the appealing. On the other hand, visually speaking, Paris is stunning. A grand dame of a city not crumbling away like Roma seems to be. Wide(er) streets than other cities; beautiful buildings and landscapes; gardens throughout. Yep, she is mighty purdy.
So on top of old Eiffel we all stood for awhile, admiring the views and then waiting (again) in line for the treat of a ride down. Back on level 2, Aidan and Julia asked to walk down to the bottom to try and beat the elevator. Upon hearing the “yes” they immediately took off with Brian in close pursuit. Aidan was a bit more overzealous than his sister and quickly got ahead of her on the stairs down, thereby leaving Julia scared and by herself on most of the trip down. Colin, Edwin and I arrived at the bottom slightly ahead of the other 3 and walked over to meet them, only to find Brian shaking his head, Julia in tears and Aidan in a time out. Yep, sounds about right for a Danahy family outing.
Off we went to find something to eat using the guidebook. And it’s at this point in the trip (well, one of many I confess) that I’m ready to pitch the guide book out the window and curse Rick Steves’ name. He has some great tips, but they don’t include eating out with children. His ideas of good/reasonably priced don’t really fly with the 5 and 8 year old set. We found ourselves in a Paris café trying to convince the kids that they really would like what we ordered for them. Yeah, not so much… French food is not for children. Unless you are eating crepes or croissants with chocolate filling.
The next item up on Colin’s list was the War Museum and Napoleon’s Tomb. He had planned the day out so we didn’t need much metro use – most everything was in walking distance of each other. The museum was *very* interesting: lots of armor (even Edwin sized!) weapons, and elaborate displays of French military activity is the last several centuries. We were able to get through the (HUGE) building at a good pace – only because we didn’t have Papa Paul with us – and Ed took a lovely little nap on my lap in the WWII exhibit. When it was time to move on, he faked being still asleep to insure that I would carry him (he even caught the eye of a museum guard who was in on the tricking of mommy.) Thanks only to Julia who a little later clued me in, Ed was quickly put down by a tired mommy. The kids (and same tired mommy) were plied with sweets at the cafeteria: theirs in the form of Coke flavored popsicles, mine in the form of a cappuccino. Colin and Brian hiked the final distance to see Napoleon’s Tomb while the rest of us contented ourselves with the large poster of it on the cafeteria wall.
This was the point in the day when we were all scheduled to go back to the hotel for Colin’s internet use. The little kids were tired (as were all of us really) but I persuaded Aidan to stay out with me and take in at least ONE art museum in Paris. He suggested the Louvre. I suggested the Rodin gardens around the corner. Less walking (and the late hour in the day) won out. We snuck in (fee-free due to the lateness) to the gardens but missed the museum (former home to Rodin and other artists.) No matter really as some of the most famous works are located in the garden. Aidan got to see “The Thinker,” “The Gates of Hell,” (FASCINATING) and the __________ of Calais” (can’t remember the name.) I’m glad that Aidan got to see some of this art – and he seemed to really enjoy it. We were due back at the hotel to meet up for dinner so I did some fancy talking (read: bossy talking) and convinced Aidan to try out the bus system with me. I was pretty tired of seeing Paris only by underground. As I kept reassuring Aidan, how lost could we really get? “We get on a bus, we go a little ways. If we need to, we can stop and find a metro or taxi. C’mon it’s an ADVENTURE!” We did, in fact, find our way home by bus – we were quite proud actually. It was crowded, a bit on the stinky side, but WAY more scenic than the metro. We even found a fountain dedicated to St. Michael while waiting for a bus transfer.
Dinner was back in the Republique neighborhood at a Subway’s. Again – Colin’s choice. It was fine by everyone else too (except, maybe, for Brian who hit his lifetime sandwich quota back in 1987.)
Then off to see the sun set atop the Arc de Triumphe More stairs. A great view. But a little on the quiet side – which our crew quickly changed. Especially when we lost Colin somewhere on the way up. Brian went down to find him and then called me (a big no-no the kids reminded me as they loudly pointed out the “no cell phone” signs posted) and we went down to join them.
The last stop of the night was a short walk down the Champs-Elysees so Julia could purchase a purse and some perfume. She had to put up with stinky sewer tours and lots of other stinky boy stuff - so she was entitled to some girly stuff.
So with her purchases and with our tired it was back to the hotel to rest for the night.
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