We left Lisieux this morning around 10:30 am after another pain au chocolat breakfast at a cafe. We arrived in Paris just after noon under a light drizzle and grabbed some sandwiches of grilled meat with fries at a Turkish sandwich shop. We ate these standing up in the hall of the St. Lazare train station. While we were there we finally saw our first American Veteran GI. 
He had on a maroon beret and a uniform loaded with medals, including an Airborne badge. We were so lucky to get to speak to him! Turns out his name is Bill Coleman Jr. and he is from Orlando, FL. He parachuted into Normandy the day before D-Day and he was in Paris to receive the Medal of the Legion d'Honneur from France's President Sarkozy. He got the medal yesterday at Les Invalides (the Military School and the place where Napoleon is buried). They gave him and his buddies a gun salute, a military parade and the President of France pinned the award on him personally. This man is 89 years old and he looked like he was a very fit 70. We got to see the pin he was awarded and we got to hear his personal story first-hand.
After we got settled at our hotel, we made a bee-line for the Eiffel Tower. Everyone went up except Madame and Jessie, who hung out together at the base waiting for the others (in the rain and cold!) We met some nice people from Chiapas Mexico and Madame got to use Jessie as a translator for Spanish! Then we walked up to the Esplanade for Human Rights at the Palais de Chaillot and got some great pictures of the Eiffel Tower. We took the Metro over to the Arc de Triomphe just in time to see a full military parade there, related to the Battle of Normandy.
We walked down the Champs-Elysees under a steady rain and then took the Metro to the Place de la Concorde, which we visited under a torrential downpour. That's okay, because the obelisk and the hieroglyphs are impressive in any weather.
Completely exhausted, we returned to our hotel, had a quick, warm dinner, and settled in to rest and relax.
He had on a maroon beret and a uniform loaded with medals, including an Airborne badge. We were so lucky to get to speak to him! Turns out his name is Bill Coleman Jr. and he is from Orlando, FL. He parachuted into Normandy the day before D-Day and he was in Paris to receive the Medal of the Legion d'Honneur from France's President Sarkozy. He got the medal yesterday at Les Invalides (the Military School and the place where Napoleon is buried). They gave him and his buddies a gun salute, a military parade and the President of France pinned the award on him personally. This man is 89 years old and he looked like he was a very fit 70. We got to see the pin he was awarded and we got to hear his personal story first-hand.After we got settled at our hotel, we made a bee-line for the Eiffel Tower. Everyone went up except Madame and Jessie, who hung out together at the base waiting for the others (in the rain and cold!) We met some nice people from Chiapas Mexico and Madame got to use Jessie as a translator for Spanish! Then we walked up to the Esplanade for Human Rights at the Palais de Chaillot and got some great pictures of the Eiffel Tower. We took the Metro over to the Arc de Triomphe just in time to see a full military parade there, related to the Battle of Normandy.
We walked down the Champs-Elysees under a steady rain and then took the Metro to the Place de la Concorde, which we visited under a torrential downpour. That's okay, because the obelisk and the hieroglyphs are impressive in any weather.Completely exhausted, we returned to our hotel, had a quick, warm dinner, and settled in to rest and relax.
Today was rainy and grey, but still very fun. At the beginning of the day, we stopped in a small sidewalk store and bought umbrellas for 4.50 euros - an excellent buy, as we got about six hours of use out of it toady alone. The subways were easier to navigate today without lugging our suitcases all around. We walked around the MASSIVE Eiffel Tower (and took the elevator up to the windy top and back down), the arc de triumph (and watched a delightful military band play the French National Anthem). We window shopped at an out-of-this world expensive jewelry store where a necklace cost around 30,000 euros. It was nice to look. We gt our feet soaked and our pant legs wet, hair frizzy, and noses dripping rain BUT we had the best time ever. It's nice having Mme Robillard as a tour guide, because she is able to tell us many little tidbits of Parisian history as we we along. After dinner at a dleicious Italian place, we came back and collasped into bed. I changed into PJ's and am now sitting in bed, watching the top of the Eiffel tower from the window half a foot from my bed. Yay!
ReplyDeleteI thought about going to the top of the Eiffel Tower with the other girls, but as it was raining and I have been up before, I decided to stay with Madame. We looked through the small gift store and laughed at some of the items -- who came up with a giraffe Eiffel Tower mini statue? We talked about what we were going to do for the rest of the day and tomorrow, and we walked over to a small park with a waterfall. Madame took two photos of me standing in front of a statue of Eiffel, who was really an amazing engineer.
ReplyDeleteIn trying to avoid the rain, we met two Mexican tourists. As Madame said, I served as translator to the best of my ability. I am glad to have had this chance to use my Spanish, though it also made me realize how much I need to improve in the language. Eventually, when the other girls came back down, the Andrade sisters became the translators and managed to explain, as I hadn't been able to do, that there are special packages for travel and entrance to Versailles available in the RER.
Madame and I ate at a pizzeria while trying to dry off. We both order Reine pizzas, which have tomato sauce, cheese, mushrooms, and ham. I also ordered a mousse au chocolat, which was excellent.
Cate, Madame, and I have a room that has a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower, which means that at night we can see it "dance" when the lights flicker and sparkle. We have already seen it do so once tonight and are about to see it do so again. We also see trains go by; earlier about two every five minutes but now as it is 10:56 we see maybe one every ten or fifteen minutes.
Despite being soaked for the second day in a row, it was a very good day.
We do so enjoy the blog and photos. It is a joy seeing your smiles, which speak volumes about your adventure. We hope the rest of your trip is as fun, memorable, and enjoyable!
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