vellamint
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2000
- Messages
- 3,745
November 25, 2010 - Day 4 - Thanksgiving!!! Paris for real!
Buffet breakfast and to the trains…. Although I can navigate the NYC subway this is new for me so I am a little nervous. Train station is right where the buses drop us off. First went to the TGV ticket booth but it was easy to find the RER ticket booth. Bought the Mobilus as I was not sure how many trips we would be taking today and this covers the RER, the Metro and the buses. 3 one day tickets cost 40.95 euros (about $54). Walked to the correct track…actually I don’t think there is a wrong track here as I believe the last stop is Disney but still was nervous. Beggars on the train….handing out cards with their stories on it….I gave one euro to the first one because I thought he was just a nice man helping by telling us yes this is the train to Paris. After awhile he handed us the card and then I realized the deal. There were also a few accordion players. I told the girls don’t make eye contact or take anything that anyone tries to hand you. Anyway……
Found our way to the Arc de Triomphe no problem!!
Beautiful……we bought our tickets (actually just one ticket as students under 18 are free to most national monuments) and after looking around the base we found the stairs. I can’t believe I made it…..spiral staircase to the top…… Fun but let’s not make a habit of that. The views were gorgeous even though it was a little foggy. They had a few cool interactive items inside and I am sure someone that knows history better than I would have a field day with them. One of them you aimed at a miniature Arc and it would magnify what you are aiming at up onto a screen the size of the wall…this was so you could see parts of the Arc up closely. Another had a world map showing Arcs around the world. Another was like a laid over television of the sidewalk level showing real-time…. After a trip to the gift shop where I bought my necessary magnet and Jessica got a pen we walked down… Much easier than up by the way. I don’t think the girls were all that impressed but they did like the interactive elements.
From here we walked to the Eiffel Tower…. I had a street map and purposely brought us to it via Trocadario (sp) as I read this is the best view…sadly it brought us through a little park that had an overhang where a homeless man was living (and judging by the smell urinating)…..hurrying them past that….
There it was!! What a great view!!
Hungry after the walking we found a vendor selling crepes. Jess had an egg and cheese, I had a ham and cheese and Jennifer had a chicken crepe. We all agreed they were not the best……we also all agreed later that where we bought it may have been why. I’m sorry I didn’t try another one from somewhere else.
We took our crepes to the area under the Tower looking for a place to sit and were immediately set upon by peddlers, a gypsy woman and pigeons!!! One daughter threw part of her crepe to them and they swarmed us (the pigeon’s lol). I got a full whap in the face by what felt like a huge pigeon!!!! Then the vendors started….tower (miniature souvenir ones) 1 euro, half a euro come on you want one etc… one followed us and said to Jess I love you… telling the girls to stick close we finished eating and walked away. Our Segway tour was not until 2 o’clock and it was only about 12:30.
It Was Freezing now. The only shelter was two tiny little gifts shops. We went in and I bought the necessary magnet. Each of us got matching silicone bracelets and sparkly compacts with the Eiffel Tower on them. Then we found the public restroom which was very warm but very crowded so we couldn’t hang there. We were freezing!!! This was NOT a fun hour.
At 1:50 I started to worry that we were being stood up because the confirmation said our guide would show up at 1:45 but then all of a sudden he and the other 4 people on the tour were there. He had us follow him back to his offices (which if I had known I would have walked there and hour and half earlier and kept warm). We signed paperwork, got helmets, bought water and a poncho (neither used but they bought the poncho back) and then were given a segway to drag to the courtyard to practice on.
I had been on a segway before in Epcot and was not looking forward to 4 hours on one as I had an “incident” at the wall in China (in Epcot lol). But it was their trip and they wanted it so I sucked it up. I thought Jennifer was going to be the weak leak but it turned out she did the best of all of us. Jess and I both almost took a tumble at some point in the tour. After 15 minutes of training off we went.
We saw many monuments and places of historical significance. We crossed many streets and roads. We bumped up and bumped down sidewalks and curbs and navigated narrow paths between poles and parked cars. We even crossed busy streets and rode in the bicycle lanes…. We stopped for Hot Chocolate at Angelina’s because a friend mentioned that we should go there for the very best hot chocolate in Paris and on the tour the guides says “and there is Angelina’s” and we said WHAT! He asked us all if we wanted to go and with everyone in agreement (we were going to stop at a café anyway) we went. We weren’t legally supposed to be on that street on a segway and we crossed between lights on the Rue Rivoli…but it was exciting!! And what a relief from the freezing cold.
We continued our tour and it started to rain, then sleet, then hail and finally snow. At about 5 o’clock we were near the tunnel that Princess Diana was killed in when the lights of the Eiffel Tower came on. They have a light “show” every hour. It was stunning. We took pictures and emailed one home to our boys (it was 11 am NY time) with a Happy Thanksgiving message. It was a beautiful moment that I will always remember.
It was downhill from there….it was POURING and we had to drive the segways back to the office….we actually ended the tour 30 minutes short but no one complained because it was terrible out,
This was a great tour and we all had a great time plus we learned a little bit of history and I am glad we did it.
I purchased our elevator tickets to the Eiffel Tower before I left home as I read the lines to get in the elevator can be 2 hours longs. I got an 8 o’clock timeslot as I figured the tour was over at 6 pm and we would use 2 hours for dinner. We were soaked and tried to get in at 6 but they would let us so we walked the side streets of Paris looking for a warm, reasonably priced place to sit and have a bite to eat.
We found a place not too far away and got a window seat inside that had heaters right above the table. We had Onion Soup that was nothing like our French onion soup, Jennifer discovered Nutella Crepes and I think Jessica had fries. We were still hungry so we ordered a cheese plate. The bill was 47.90 ($70.89). They did not rush us at all and we left when we were ready getting to the Tower at 6:45. They let us in and we went through security and I missed two steps down and fell - spraining my ankle and scraping my knee and the elevator was jam packed and the people were all starting to annoy us but nothing mattered because we were in the freaking’ Eiffel Tower…in PARIS!!!!!
Anyway….came down….walked a distance to the metro train……dealt with major crowds and people….getting cranky….transferred to the RER…..walked home through the village…..very tired. Girls went on the computer. 3 Hours cost 10 euros. I went into the bar area….. 2 cosmos, 1 hot cocoa, 1 slushy in a souvenir glass, nacho platter (25 Euros) and off to sleep.
Buffet breakfast and to the trains…. Although I can navigate the NYC subway this is new for me so I am a little nervous. Train station is right where the buses drop us off. First went to the TGV ticket booth but it was easy to find the RER ticket booth. Bought the Mobilus as I was not sure how many trips we would be taking today and this covers the RER, the Metro and the buses. 3 one day tickets cost 40.95 euros (about $54). Walked to the correct track…actually I don’t think there is a wrong track here as I believe the last stop is Disney but still was nervous. Beggars on the train….handing out cards with their stories on it….I gave one euro to the first one because I thought he was just a nice man helping by telling us yes this is the train to Paris. After awhile he handed us the card and then I realized the deal. There were also a few accordion players. I told the girls don’t make eye contact or take anything that anyone tries to hand you. Anyway……
Found our way to the Arc de Triomphe no problem!!
Beautiful……we bought our tickets (actually just one ticket as students under 18 are free to most national monuments) and after looking around the base we found the stairs. I can’t believe I made it…..spiral staircase to the top…… Fun but let’s not make a habit of that. The views were gorgeous even though it was a little foggy. They had a few cool interactive items inside and I am sure someone that knows history better than I would have a field day with them. One of them you aimed at a miniature Arc and it would magnify what you are aiming at up onto a screen the size of the wall…this was so you could see parts of the Arc up closely. Another had a world map showing Arcs around the world. Another was like a laid over television of the sidewalk level showing real-time…. After a trip to the gift shop where I bought my necessary magnet and Jessica got a pen we walked down… Much easier than up by the way. I don’t think the girls were all that impressed but they did like the interactive elements.
From here we walked to the Eiffel Tower…. I had a street map and purposely brought us to it via Trocadario (sp) as I read this is the best view…sadly it brought us through a little park that had an overhang where a homeless man was living (and judging by the smell urinating)…..hurrying them past that….
There it was!! What a great view!!
Hungry after the walking we found a vendor selling crepes. Jess had an egg and cheese, I had a ham and cheese and Jennifer had a chicken crepe. We all agreed they were not the best……we also all agreed later that where we bought it may have been why. I’m sorry I didn’t try another one from somewhere else.
We took our crepes to the area under the Tower looking for a place to sit and were immediately set upon by peddlers, a gypsy woman and pigeons!!! One daughter threw part of her crepe to them and they swarmed us (the pigeon’s lol). I got a full whap in the face by what felt like a huge pigeon!!!! Then the vendors started….tower (miniature souvenir ones) 1 euro, half a euro come on you want one etc… one followed us and said to Jess I love you… telling the girls to stick close we finished eating and walked away. Our Segway tour was not until 2 o’clock and it was only about 12:30.
It Was Freezing now. The only shelter was two tiny little gifts shops. We went in and I bought the necessary magnet. Each of us got matching silicone bracelets and sparkly compacts with the Eiffel Tower on them. Then we found the public restroom which was very warm but very crowded so we couldn’t hang there. We were freezing!!! This was NOT a fun hour.
At 1:50 I started to worry that we were being stood up because the confirmation said our guide would show up at 1:45 but then all of a sudden he and the other 4 people on the tour were there. He had us follow him back to his offices (which if I had known I would have walked there and hour and half earlier and kept warm). We signed paperwork, got helmets, bought water and a poncho (neither used but they bought the poncho back) and then were given a segway to drag to the courtyard to practice on.
I had been on a segway before in Epcot and was not looking forward to 4 hours on one as I had an “incident” at the wall in China (in Epcot lol). But it was their trip and they wanted it so I sucked it up. I thought Jennifer was going to be the weak leak but it turned out she did the best of all of us. Jess and I both almost took a tumble at some point in the tour. After 15 minutes of training off we went.
We saw many monuments and places of historical significance. We crossed many streets and roads. We bumped up and bumped down sidewalks and curbs and navigated narrow paths between poles and parked cars. We even crossed busy streets and rode in the bicycle lanes…. We stopped for Hot Chocolate at Angelina’s because a friend mentioned that we should go there for the very best hot chocolate in Paris and on the tour the guides says “and there is Angelina’s” and we said WHAT! He asked us all if we wanted to go and with everyone in agreement (we were going to stop at a café anyway) we went. We weren’t legally supposed to be on that street on a segway and we crossed between lights on the Rue Rivoli…but it was exciting!! And what a relief from the freezing cold.
We continued our tour and it started to rain, then sleet, then hail and finally snow. At about 5 o’clock we were near the tunnel that Princess Diana was killed in when the lights of the Eiffel Tower came on. They have a light “show” every hour. It was stunning. We took pictures and emailed one home to our boys (it was 11 am NY time) with a Happy Thanksgiving message. It was a beautiful moment that I will always remember.
It was downhill from there….it was POURING and we had to drive the segways back to the office….we actually ended the tour 30 minutes short but no one complained because it was terrible out,
This was a great tour and we all had a great time plus we learned a little bit of history and I am glad we did it.
I purchased our elevator tickets to the Eiffel Tower before I left home as I read the lines to get in the elevator can be 2 hours longs. I got an 8 o’clock timeslot as I figured the tour was over at 6 pm and we would use 2 hours for dinner. We were soaked and tried to get in at 6 but they would let us so we walked the side streets of Paris looking for a warm, reasonably priced place to sit and have a bite to eat.
We found a place not too far away and got a window seat inside that had heaters right above the table. We had Onion Soup that was nothing like our French onion soup, Jennifer discovered Nutella Crepes and I think Jessica had fries. We were still hungry so we ordered a cheese plate. The bill was 47.90 ($70.89). They did not rush us at all and we left when we were ready getting to the Tower at 6:45. They let us in and we went through security and I missed two steps down and fell - spraining my ankle and scraping my knee and the elevator was jam packed and the people were all starting to annoy us but nothing mattered because we were in the freaking’ Eiffel Tower…in PARIS!!!!!
Anyway….came down….walked a distance to the metro train……dealt with major crowds and people….getting cranky….transferred to the RER…..walked home through the village…..very tired. Girls went on the computer. 3 Hours cost 10 euros. I went into the bar area….. 2 cosmos, 1 hot cocoa, 1 slushy in a souvenir glass, nacho platter (25 Euros) and off to sleep.
