Colossal Waste: Around The World 2011 Day 43: Paris, France

Our final day in Paris. And day number two of two with the Mehtas. Remember the term Bex-Factor? Where we do more in a city because we are with people that we like? It is full effect. On top of it, we get to see the Methas quite rarely, and this really is a treat. The crazy thing is that their kids are, and I'm not being nice, great. In fact, the kids are so great that I fear the adults are getting ignored, but they should be used to that by now.

By my math, yesterday was the last day of our seventh week on the road, making this the beginning of week eight. These numbers have no meaning any longer, not for me.

Shall we begin.

Look closely and you will see Barbie's hand preparing breakfast.

Healthy, convenient, economical... there is no shortage of advantages to having a kitchenette.

After breakfast, Barbie worked and I Wasted while we waited for the Mehtas to arrive. I did not mention this, but the apartment they are renting had no hot water! Guess who is coming over to take a quick shower today? Anyone who wants to, actually.

After chilling in our apartmenthotel for some showers and conversation, it was time to hit Paris.

I actually got all five of them in this Metro pic. Note that Anya and Ravi are glad to not be as close to Dad's arm pit as their big brother Arjun! I kid! I kid!

We emerged from the Metro and headed up to Montmartre, one of Barbie's favorite places in Paris.

The walk was dotted with these shell-game guys. Instead of shells they had black discs, and one disc had white on one side, but you can guess the odds of someone correctly picking out the disc with white and winning their bet.

One of the loveliest sights in Paris, Basilique du Sacré-Cœur -- Basilica of the Sacred Heart (of Jesus). I normally type it Sacre-Coeur, because we do not even have the vowel "œ" in American English. Because of its position at the top of Montmartre, the highest point in the city of Paris, you can see this basilica from almost everywhere in the city. Its tall, Byzantine architecture and bright white stone (travertine, a form of limestone) makes it stand out from everything else in the city, and truly grabs the eye.

The Mehta Family, Sacre-Coeur, Paris, August 10, 2011.

In this picture, Ravi almost appears fast enough to catch the pigeon.

The history behind the building of this basilica is wildly complex. During the French Revolution, and the series of governments that came and went during the following decades, the violence was extreme. Montmartre had been the site of insurrections, and many died and were executed at this site. Sacré-Cœur serves as a monument to these martyrs and is publicly dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

It gets crowded in the doorway, but inside there is plenty of room. But there is no photography allowed inside.

Sujay is very, very happy with that Nikon lens. Why must everyone show off their Nikon lenses.

Apparently my iPhone slipped out of my pocket and as I put it back into my pocket my fingers must have randomly hit the touchsreen in a way that took this picture up into the tallest dome of Sacre-Coeur.

You really do not tire of sites like this. This is the third year in a row we have visited Sacre-Coeur.

Of course, the other reason we visit is that just around the corner from here is one of our favorite...

Crepe restaurants! I believe that clockwise you have ham and cheese, mushroom and cheese, hot chocolate (Arjun's) and chocolate and banana.

Anya is very happy with her crepe, and I have to thank her for giving me a great smile for the Waste.

Can you get too close to a chocolate & banana crepe? I say, No.

Note the many empty plates. The crepes were enjoyed.

All hail the crepe-maker.

This shot is for future reference, and for anyone who wants to find this place in the future. Last summer there were tables out here. I suspect that August is too busy a month up on Montmartre to have the tables out.

I cannot explain this other than saying, "I likes Nutella." (Guest photographer Barbara Howard.)

We came across this graffiti and I said, "Look serious." And look how well they did? Father and son, looking rather serious.

We walked down the hill, but before getting back in the Metro some of us needed to make pit stops. To make the time go faster, an impromptu game of tag arose.

Anya uses her mind as well as her feet when playing tag. She was crafty.

Whereas Ravi peels out. By the way, one of the great skills you develop as an Uncle is the ability to tag a kid in mid stride without knocking said kid to the ground. It is a lot more difficult than it sounds. I am pleased to report that no kids scraped up their knees during today's game of tag.

We had just been up THERE.

We hopped on the Metro, and when we came out from underground we were at the Louvre.

My feet and the Louvre pyramid.

It is funny to visit one of the greatest museums in the world -- in fact, the Second Greatest Museum In The World on the WasteScale -- and just take pictures outside.

But that is what we planned to do, just visit.

Anya displays her leaping ability.

Le Louvre.

Le Louvre in four separate photographs, stitched together.

As it turned out, there was only a ten minute wait to get into the Louvre today, and it was open late. We agreed that the Mehtas would go in and visit the Louvre while Barbie and I gave the Musee d'Orsay a second chance. We shall meet up later.

Crossing the Seine.

On the side of the Musee d'Orsay, this plaque reads, "From April to August 1945. many survivors of the prisoner camps, concentration camps, and forced labor camps, all victims of Nazism, were received on their return to the Gare d'Orsay, the main center for French Repatriation." In other words, when this museum was still a train station, this was the main center where the French victims of World War II who survived returned home.

Remember the picture a few days ago, with a sea of people waiting to get in? I suppose this is another travel tip; only go to museums on weekdays and in the afternoon, once all the eager beavers have come and gone.

Barbie walked right to the ticket window without a wait.

This is the only picture I took inside the Musee d'Orsay. I have to say, the remodeling of the museum is tremendous. They did an amazing job remodeling with it, and the space is better than ever. Truly a must visit museum.

We crossed back across the Seine over the Passerelle Solférino, where love-locks adorn the pedestrian-only bridge. The tradition of writing your names on a lock, placing it somewhere in public and throwing away the key is a tradition that allegedly began in China. Romantic vandalism.

Barbie and I got back to our pad and rested for a bit, and soon the Mehtas joined us. Our goal, or really my goal that Barbie was happy to go along with, is to go to the Eiffel Tower for the magic hour after sundown and take a hundred pictures of it. The Mehtas needed to get back to their place and eat, because tomorrow they have an early morning.

We walked to the Metro, and had a long-ish good-bye in the Metro station, followed by our getting on the same train.

Sujay and Arjun on our last Metro ride together.

Meena on our last Metro ride together.

Ravi on our last Metro ride together.

Anya on a Metro ride earlier that day, but even though I could not get a shot of her from where I was sitting on our last ride, no way was I going to show four out of five in this section and leave her out.

Barbie and I said au revoir, and switched trains headed for the Tour Eiffel.

I am not sure what subculture the spikes on his pants represent, but, yeah, asking a young woman to sit on his lap is not going to happen.

We arrived around 9 PM, which means we have some time to wait for the light to get right.

Tallest building in the world for 41 years. The tallest building before it was the Washington Monument and it lost the title to NYC's Chrysler Building.

I have to remind myself that when I think something is ugly I could be wrong, because people thought that this building was ugly when it was completed.

Panorama.

Looking up from underneath.

Hey, we are Wasting time until the sun sets.

Spanish tourists asked Barbie to help them with a photo. We do this as often as possible while traveling.

To improve our view, we crossed the Pone d'Iena to shoot the tower from across the Seine.

Sacre-Coeur.

We are at just about the idea distance here, but the sun needs to go lower.

The Eiffel Tower from the Esplanade du Trocadero.

And again.

Le Kiss.

Le Chapeau.

One last shot before we walk to the Metro.

Amazingly, busload after busload of tourists are brought here at sundown, all dropped off at the Trocadero. We had never crossed the bridge before, but were glad that we did.

As we were heading to a Metro entrance, Babrie spotted the row of restaurants and, after looking at some menus, we decided to sit for a late dinner.

You cannot see the Eiffel Tower from this restaurant, yet they still use its image on their napkin.

Steak frites for both, his with bernaise on the side. As with all restaurants in a touristy area, the restaurant relies upon location and not taste to bring in the customers. It was just okay.