Archive - Sep 9, 2005

Date

la tour en soirée

kelly | 9 September 2005 - 4:22am

More observations about Paris:

Lots of skirts. Definitely the majority of women here are wearing them. The rest are wearing pants - no shorts at all. This is fine by me, because I hate shorts. Also, women here have GREAT shoes. Walking down the street is like a frickin' shoe fashion show. Multiple times I've almost run into a lamp post or a person because I've been checking out some woman's shoes.

I've seen more people smoking here than in London. But not as many smokers as I thought I'd see, actually.

In both cities a lot of people ride motorcycles. In London, there were parking areas for them - spaces too small for cars but big enough for a row of motorcycles. In Paris, people drive them up the sidewalk ramps and park them anywhere and everywhere on the sidewalk.

Paris is definitely an aphrodisiac. Perhaps it has something to do with the Eiffel Phallus.

I much prefer this city in the evening and at night. It is perfectly fine during the day, but when the light in the sky starts to fade, the city is much more beautiful and the ambiance changes. Then...ah, it feels like Paris.

We've been more relaxed here than in London. In London we had a whole list of things to see and here the list is much shorter and we're just taking our time. We've slept in both mornings (incredible to wake up together to the sounds of Paris below - and I still contend that this is much more satisfying in a double bed). Yesterday we got pastries at a fabulous bakery across the street and sat with our coffee and our pastries at a sidewalk table. We walked a lot yesterday but were never in a hurry. One of the unexpected entertainments was watching the traffic from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. The road circles around the arch and there are 12 roads that spike off the circle and there are NO LANES and NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS and it is a frickin' disaster. And so fun to watch.

Last evening was incredible. We got to the Eiffel Tower just as the sun was setting. It's just a stupid metal tower but my god, it is so beautiful. We stayed until it was well dark out. (The tower is lit once the sun goes down, and in addition to this, every hour on the hour white lights flash, randomly and rapidly, for ten minutes. Sorta like a huge Christmas tree...we thought it was tasteful, though. You can see those in the last shot below.)

Instead of going to the top of the Eiffel Tower, we went to the top of the Montparnasse Tower. Rob's mom had given us this insider's tip. It's much better because the Eiffel Tower is part of the view. And also, there is no wire fence like on the Eiffel Tower and also, there are no people! There were never more than 2 other couples on the top the whole time we were there. I guess it's just not well advertised because if people knew about this, it would have been packed. To see the city in lights, with the Eiffel Tower dominating the landscape, is breathtaking.