First Night in Paris

9-16-2008

Ten minutes in Paris and the French police were already on our tail. Our hostel was down a tiny one-way street and when our bus plugged up that intersection, the po was on us like a pack of dogs on a two legged cat. We all threw our bags out from under the bus and Rupert got the bus out of there with time to spare.

We found our rooms, which were a bit tighter than previous accommodations. However, our room looked out onto an open air courtyard, so I really couldn’t complain.

Lucky us. Two of our three meals a day in Paris were covered, our breakfast at the hostel (where they couldn’t have been more anal about trays) and dinner at Flunch, a fast food-like cheaper quality Perkins of France. After moving in, we made our way to this Flunch place and ate our fill.

Later that night, a small group of us purchased the cheapest bottles of wine we could find and made the journey along the Seine River to the Eiffel Tower. I can’t think of a better way to start my stay in Paris. As we walked we took in the sights along the river. As if the city wasn’t lit up beautifully enough, the tour boats cruising up and down the Seine had huge spotlights that blinded us as they drove by. However, they did light up much of the shadowed beauty around us. We passed by some late night djembe players, which is a typical sight in a metropolitan city, but in Paris it was all the better.

We walked passed the National Assembly Building. During the day, it just looks like another government building with it’s tall columns, relief carvings on the top, and statues outside the gates. At night, though, there is a fantastic film that projects onto the outside of the building. It’s a well thought out historical, political, tribute-like video that cycles every 20 minutes or so. We stared at that for a while and moved on.

There was a park close to the tower where we passed a group of students who needed to borrow our bottle opener. In the 10 minutes we stopped to chat with them I broke my bottle opener and cracked the bottle of my cheap ass chardonnay. Luckily Chad had another bottle that we could consumer underneath the tower. Because let’s face it, what is an evening underneath the Eiffel Tower without at least one bottle of wine.

You’d think that the Eiffel Tower would be a shining beacon that you can get to, and from far away it is. But there’s a point when you are walking to it that the buildings cover it up. You have to keep walking until you reach an alley that looks up to it. But it really isn’t hard to find and when you do, it’s all worth it.

Currently, France is in charge of the European Union (from my understanding, the Union leader switches every 6 months). Because they are in charge of the Union, they’ve decided to celebrate. One way is by lighting the Eiffel Tower up with a vibrant blue as opposed to the traditional white. On one side, the European Union stars circle the tower’s center. The best part of this iron tower, every hour it sparkles like Tinkerbell for a good 10 minutes. It’s a breathtaking sight. While pictures will never do it justice, I’ll post one so ya’ll can get the gist. 

And for something you may not know about the Eiffel Tower. Sure, it can be romantic to sit underneath this beautifully lit beacon of love, but just watch out for the rats scurrying about from bush to bush along the lawn below....