Around The World 2011 Day 42: Paris, France

Sacrebleu!  It is our third morning waking up in Paris and we have a simple itinerary; wake, breakfast, meets Le Mehtas on the North end of le Pont de l'Alama and have a little fun.  Le Familie Mehta would be Sujay, Meena, Arjun, Anya, and Ravi.  It has been mentioned on the Waste that Sujay and I became best friends the day we met in 1980, when two boys in the seventh grade at a new school discovered that they both listened extensively to Steve Martin albums.  Thirty one years later they shall spend le day in Paris with their wives and keeds.

It has become extremely difficult to not use all English with a French accent.  It is almost as if Inspector Clouseau spoke perfect English and we are all incorrect, and can only truly communicate when talkeeng like heem.  But I weel, from theese moment forward, deeskonteenyoo the axxsenteh.

But first on today's list is breakfast.  Yesterday we ended our day in a small market in the neighborhood, which means that Barbie is preparing breakfast in what you might call our studio apartment.

Not the largest kitchen in the world, but it is more than capable.

There can be no better breakfast then Egg, Proscuitto, Banana and Chocolate Croissant.

After we ate, the plates went into the tiny dishwasher to be used another time.

Time to walk to the Metro.  We have Canadians to meet.

Sujay was born in Canada, raised in Los Angeles, went to university in San Diego where he met the Northern Californian Meena, then somehow tricked her into moving to Vancouver, Canada with two young children where they had a third!

In other words, we are meeting American Canadians in Paris.

That is the sidewalk.  This Frenchman is giving new meaning to the words Drive Up ATM.

Our train has come in.

Paris Metro Candid.  Ligne 13.  August 2011.

When we emerged from the Metro we were looking directly at this, the Flame of Liberty.

This full-scale exact replica of the United States' Statue of Liberty Frame was a gift from the International Herald Tribune in 1989 to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary (in 1987) of Paris' first and most important English newspaper.  Everyone had better learned in school that the Statue of Liberty in New York was a gift from the nation of France.  Giving back a replica of the flame was a lovely gesture, particularly considering that the restoration work on the Statue of Liberty which had been done in late 1980's was performed by two French businesses that did the bronze work and gold leaf of our Lady Liberty.

But a few years later the meaning of this area in Paris took on a different meaning for many people, when Diana, Princess of Wales died in the tunnel beneath the Pont de l'Alma in 1997.

This flame has been appropriated by the mourners for Diana, and the area has been covered by graffiti written to her.

Barbie stands along the tunnel and looks in where Lady Diana met her fate.  Interesting that we were at her memorial fountain around a week ago in London and today we are at the site of the accident that took her life.

I focused my attention over here, as I am not terribly into Diana, Princess of Wales.

We found a nice wall to sit on and waiting to see the Mehtas.

Ho ho!  Anya is just behind her daddy, but we can see the feet of all five and the face of four as they walk up to us.  We have not seen them since a certain birthday celebrated for Meena in Los Angeles three years ago.  This means that I really do need to get up to Vancouver again.

Our plan, and this was once of those odd coincidences, is to ride the Bateaux-Mouches along the Seine.  Amusingly, Barbie had said to me yesterday, "Maybe we should go on the ride along the Seine with them?"  Then an email from Sujay said, "Maybe we should take a ride along the Seine."  That was easy.

The crew of seven on the Bateaux Mouches.  One thing is for certain, Arjun is one year away from the age that Sujay and I were when we first met and we have both become fat and old since that time.  I could pretend otherwise, but looking at a healthy eleven year old makes it clear that the balding, graying, chubby men before you are not young.

The Musee d'Orsay, adorned with a large advertisement featuring Brigitte Bardot.  Even if she is a French icon, I suspect that some members of the French community would consider this to be a bit low-class for them.  Once you start adorning your museums with advertisements for women's handbags, the slope gets slippery.  I await seeing the Louvre's pyramide covered with Adidas stripes or a Nike swoosh. 

Speaking of the Louvre, this may be as close as we get to it this visit.  We have been inside a few times, and the August lines are something to avoid.

Notre Dame de Paris, also known as Notre Dame Cathedral.  One of the world's great beauties.  This building took longer than a century before they considered it complete, from 1160 when the Bishop of Paris ordered that the previous cathedral on this site be demolished to 1250 when the towers were completed.  (Small touches were added until as late as 1345, but it would be unfair to have called the cathedral unfinished after 1250.)

Notre Dame de Paris is, for its time, a marvel of engineering.  New architectural concepts, such as flying buttresses, were invented to build walls that tall without their crumbling outward from the weight of their roof.

Yours truly, Sujay, Arjun, Meena, Ravi, and Barbie's back.  Anya must be hidden behind someone.

When you see Notre Dame from behind, you realize that the flying buttresses are, shall we say, more function than form.

A bride and groom on the banks of the Seine.

Listen, it is understood that if you are standing on a bridge and the people on the boat below are waving, you wave back.  Even the Russians in St. Petersberg understand this!

This photo was really only taken to show, "Hey, we are on a boat."

At the end of the tour, we of course come to La Tour Eiffel.  It was the tallest man-made structure in the world from 1889 to 1930.

The Eiffel Tower was built as the entrance of the Exposition Universelle, a World's Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.  Most Parisians hated it at the time.

It would appear Sujay bought one of those Eiffel Tower Hats, no?

After the tour, we visited the Flame of Liberty again.

I do not know what this person wrote, but I know who they wrote it about.

The embassy for the People's Republic of China.  Their official language is Mandarin, if you want to know what language your kids should be learning today.

You see where we walked to from the river?

This is an accidental shot as I attempt to press the button to switch from the forward facing camera to the standard camera.  Anya is looking over, probably seeing herself in the screen.

Another accidental shot. Is good.

We walked under the street to the Arc de Triomphe.  We got in line to go to the top.  Last year I went to the top on July 4, 2011, while Barbie waited below with a blister.  Today she will not miss out on one of the best views in Paris, nor will any of the Mehtas.

Under the Arc, in the center, I took this panorama.  All of these panoramas are 3D so that you can move through them.  I will give a link to a site where this can be experienced when we are done.

There is no denying that having a massive ego can lead to great accomplishment.  When Napoleon won his victory at Austerlitz, over the Russian and Austrian armies, he set about building this massive arch to commemorate the victory.  For a decade after this victory the French dominated Europe.  And what we have left behind is some of the most beautiful architecture in the world.

This makes me aware that World War II was simply too awful for anything prideful to be built.  And it is fascinating to me that a democracy is highly unlikely to build anything like this.  Washington D.C. has a few monuments and memorials, but, really, there was never going to be a moment when the USA was going to say, "We are going to use public money to build something so over-the-top that people will come from around the world to see it."  There is even an argument that the most artistically noteworthy American symbol was a gift from France.

Two hundred and eighty four steps, I believe.

Up in the arch, I asked Ravi if he wanted to stand next to the statue and make that face for me.  I would say he did  perfectly.

Anya poses in a more subdued, lady-like manner.

Finally, we reach the top.

There it is.  A view of Paris that you can get nowhere else.  Twelve major roads lead to this point, giving you the impression that even the street grid of Paris was designed with beauty in mind.

The tower she looks good from here.  Give her a squeeze.

Looks around 300 meters tall to me.   We are standing 50 meters above the street on top of the Arc.

Arjun and Anya looking for a better way to look at the Eiffel Tower.

Très bien. 

Avenue des Champs-Élysées.  It looks too clean and too pretty thanks to HDR.

The list of sites you can see from above the Arc is basically infinite.  You see the Eiffel Tower, and then Napoleon's Tomb, and Notre Dame, and Sacre-Coeur, Place de la Concorde, the Louvre... In fact, you see many things you have not seen before and it makes you want to stay up here a very, very long time.

Anya poses with the map.  Look closely and you will see the gold Arc de Triomphe in gold.

Ravi points out the Arc de Triomphe on the map.  He takes direction perfectly.

Before we leave, a shot of us with Avenue des Champs-Élysées behind us.

'Tis a long way down, but it goes very fast.

I got needy and casually demanding, and said, "Everyone follow me and come over here.  The sun is right and we can get a great group shot."  Without hearing anyone agree, I started walking that way and a kid or two followed, and eventually the adults showed up.  One by one, people saw the image on the iPhone and then placed themselves so that they could see their own face on the screen.  And that is how you get a great group shot with a forward facing camera!

And if you want to see the series of shots I took in order to get that shot...

I used to let photo opportunities like this slip by.  Believe it or not, I think the Waste itself has made me a better, more dedicated person to recording the things I love with the people I love.  Important stuff.

When I see an Asian tourist in gloves, I take the picture.  She will never catch a cold, or get a sunburn, or experience whatever it is she wishes to avoid.  You, my friend, will be sick and sunburnt and filled with a sense of regret that the Asian tourist will never know.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées in August is crowded.  We are headed directly to a restaurant that Barbie knows is ahead of us.  Top secret destination, for a picture or two.

This is a feature that American cars do not have.

This is my, "Why would I want to fly to Iran?" face.  To clarify, I look forward to the opportunity to fly to an open and democratic Iran, and I hope that the people there reach their goals.  There.

Soon we arrived at our destination.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées Haagen Dazs!

I am sure Ravi's hot chocolate is good, but can it be that good?  I tried it.  It was that good.

Arjun and Ravi.  Brothers.  Say no more.

The Petit Palais, home to the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts.  We have never gone inside.  Why is this rather large building called Petit?

Because it is across from the Grand Palais.

We continued walking towards Place de la Concorde.

The obelisk in the distance.  And if you turn around...

...the Arc behind you.  Paris.

After some time in the Place de la Concorde, we decided that the last stop of the day would be at the Madeleine Church.

I am trying to not repeat too many photographs from previous days of this trip.  If you want to see pictures of Place de la Concorde or the Madeleine Church, go back a day or two.

The crew walking through the Paris Metro.  We are heading back to see the apartment that the Mehtas are renting for two weeks.

Arjun and I seem to be posing, but I have no recollection if these are intentional poses or if we are both looking at a mademoiselle.

Arjun, ANya, Meena and Barbie riding the Paris Metro.

We arrived at the building in the 14th.  I am just barely learning Paris' arrondissements.  Once I master that, the city wil be mine.

The lovely courtyard in front of their loft.

The lovely front door.

Anya shows me the loft.

Circular stairs are always, always cool.

Now... I do not know how it happened, but I failed to take any pictures of the dinner we ate in their apartment.  Salad, pizza, humus, bread, cheese, fruit... it was delicious and wonderful.  I must have been enjoying myself too much.  Oh!  My phone was also charging.  It had been a long day.

And considering that the day had been long, it was now the magic hour.  We decided to all go on a walk and tonight I took a picture for you to enjoy.

A Paris street at the magical hour after sunset, when the lights have come on but there remains a trace of light in the sky.

Barbie and I took the Metro home.  This was a long corridor, even with a moving sidewalk.

Barbie cozy in her hoody, in front of the Adagio that is home for a few nights.  I told you, hoodies are essential.

Until tomorrow.