April 18th, 2025
by Prudence O'Haire
by Prudence O'Haire
Our Stay in France part 2 - This trip took place in October of 2017
Our first full day in Paris, we decided to walk towards our big destination which was the Eiffel Tower. We did a lot of walking that day. Good shoe choice is very important.
We came across the Grevin Wax museum and that was on my list of stuff I wanted to do. So we went in. It wasn't cheap. Probably close to thirty bucks each. We spent a lot of time and took a lot of pictures. The museum allows you to walk right up to the figures and take pictures with them. There is a certain creepy factor to it, but once you get use to the idea it gets pretty fun. But, I am a little goofy that way. Where else am I going to get a picture with Putin, Trump, the Queen, and the Pope amongst others? I found my claim to fame, so far..
The city of Paris seemed dirty to us. A lot of graffiti on things and homeless families laying around on the streets. Buses and sirens and horns loudly blaring everywhere. Trash in plenty, and closed shops. Shady looking folk walking around eyeballing you. I stayed close to Chris. Big cities aren't my bag of chips. Its ok to visit for a bit but please get me out when it's time to go! Things are overwhelming in cities. You gotta keep all four eyes moving lest you get flattened by something.
I found it interesting that the clothing shops put prices in their display windows. I think it's smart. Now I can tell if its a waste of my time to go in that store. I found the shop owners don't really acknowledge you came into their store most the time. French people seemed very focused on their own agenda and didn't go out of their way to make you feel welcome. I suppose Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, so if I lived there I'd be yawning at constant tourists too.
We made it with aching feet in tow to the Eiffel tower. Just before dusk and right as the rain started to pitter patter on my big hair. The place was crawling with visitors, which, in retrospect, is what we were. There was some sort of reconstruction or renovation going on so the bottom part of the tower had some ugly fence around it. The lawn surrounding the place looked well worn and spotty with mud holes and lots of peddlers selling cheap metal trinkets. I didn't know but, the tower is actually brown not black. We did not go into it. It was getting dark and we needed to figure out how we were getting back home after walking all that way. Both of us weren't interested in walking.
We had been looking at the hop on hop off tour buses and decided that now was a good time to buy a ticket. It was good for the rest of our evening and then the entire day the next day. You know I love riding on buses in big cities or on tours, so I was pretty pumped to get on the double decker bus and sit at the top, even in the threat of rain.
We made it to an area where the famous shops of Lauffette were located. We went into this shopping mall briefly and was blown away by the rich, expensive, cream of the crop shopping inside one of the malls. I wondered who in the world can afford to shop at these places?
I wanted something a lot less expensive, such as thrift stores, to go into. So Chris helped me locate some things the next day.
The second day, It took a bit of searching but we finally found our bus stop. The bus dropped us off the Louvre Museum. Yes, probably one of the most famous museums in the world. Just five miles of walking to see everything...
We did not see everything.
We stood in line to get through security. Then stood in line to get tickets. Then stood in line to get some food. We were about to stand in line to use the bathroom and Chris suggested we just go into the museum and find another bathroom. So we take this escalator up three flights, following the green exit sign that we are seeing everywhere, and we find ourselves at the top looking at a security officer. It was then we realize, we just took an exit to get out of the museum and the officer does not care that we made a mistake, he points us back to the first line we had to stand in for security in order to get back into the museum.. At that point, I just started laughing. I mean, what else can you do? We stood in another line, then managed to get into the right part of the museum.
We saw a lot in the amount of time we spent in the Louvre. We didn't spend a lot of time there, and were very focused about what to visit. Chris again had pulled up the Web suggestions of what was important to see. He was amazed when I told him a little about all the ten things he had on his list. I didn't tell him I had already read the same article about them until after he was shocked I knew so much. That's what we do when we are bored in line.
We, finally, after a long maze of following the museums silly signage and maps, made it to the infamous Mona Lisa. We found she is still holding that silly smirk and that the picture isn't real big. We saw the Nike, a sphinx, the Venus, some guy that looked like my Uncle Steve, a half man half deer, the head of John the baptist on a platter, a famous painting, several giant famous paintings with a lot of nude people in them, and a plethora of all sorts of other things.
The bottom floor of the museum part we were in smelled like dead rats. That may have been coming from their ventilation system... When we exited the Louvre the second time, we did it on purpose and had a sandwich in hand. I shared with the fat French penguins. I probably wasn't supposed to do that, but I did not see any signs in my language that said I couldn't.
Speaking of fat. These French people are all really thin folk. I guess they walk everywhere, smoke like chimneys and don't eat a lot of processed food. I know we walked a ton. And we did not feel bad about eating the goodies we did eat.
In the next few days, we visited Disney Euro. We weren't impressed. This Disney had nettles in their shrubs and weeds choking out their grass. They let people smoke everywhere and their rides broke down all the time. The park was smaller than California by a lot and true to theme park food, it wasn't good and costed a lot. We dubbed this place Diet Disney and left early. I don't recommend going there.
Chris took me to many different French thrift stores. They mainly sell vintage clothing and leather and furs are in plenty. We were able to get in on the tail end of a flea market, which I wished I had been at earlier.
We rode rental bikes mostly on the last day in Paris. The whole city has this bike system for everyone, its pretty great. However, France charged us for a bike- Some 350 euros... we couldn't communicate to them and they didn't make it easy to fight it.
We managed to get to the airport and as we are driving into it are quickly looking up the french words for rental car return. I actually was able to help with that, which I felt good about.
It took a lot longer than we allowed time for which was over two hours once we were at the airport in getting our bags checked, going through one security line, that was really long, then taking a train to another hub only to go through another security line. By the end we were jogging to get to our plane. And I still got an extra bag and person check. We managed to get Grandma the macaroons she requested as well as make it to the plane on time. The flight home was good. A great recovery time and of remiscincing about our adventure. Yes. We did a lot, saw a lot, learned a lot and plunged back into our roles at parents with only minor shell shock. We are pretty fantastic people to travel with. I credit Chris mostly with the fantastic part.
Our first full day in Paris, we decided to walk towards our big destination which was the Eiffel Tower. We did a lot of walking that day. Good shoe choice is very important.
We came across the Grevin Wax museum and that was on my list of stuff I wanted to do. So we went in. It wasn't cheap. Probably close to thirty bucks each. We spent a lot of time and took a lot of pictures. The museum allows you to walk right up to the figures and take pictures with them. There is a certain creepy factor to it, but once you get use to the idea it gets pretty fun. But, I am a little goofy that way. Where else am I going to get a picture with Putin, Trump, the Queen, and the Pope amongst others? I found my claim to fame, so far..
The city of Paris seemed dirty to us. A lot of graffiti on things and homeless families laying around on the streets. Buses and sirens and horns loudly blaring everywhere. Trash in plenty, and closed shops. Shady looking folk walking around eyeballing you. I stayed close to Chris. Big cities aren't my bag of chips. Its ok to visit for a bit but please get me out when it's time to go! Things are overwhelming in cities. You gotta keep all four eyes moving lest you get flattened by something.
I found it interesting that the clothing shops put prices in their display windows. I think it's smart. Now I can tell if its a waste of my time to go in that store. I found the shop owners don't really acknowledge you came into their store most the time. French people seemed very focused on their own agenda and didn't go out of their way to make you feel welcome. I suppose Paris is one of the most visited cities in the world, so if I lived there I'd be yawning at constant tourists too.
We made it with aching feet in tow to the Eiffel tower. Just before dusk and right as the rain started to pitter patter on my big hair. The place was crawling with visitors, which, in retrospect, is what we were. There was some sort of reconstruction or renovation going on so the bottom part of the tower had some ugly fence around it. The lawn surrounding the place looked well worn and spotty with mud holes and lots of peddlers selling cheap metal trinkets. I didn't know but, the tower is actually brown not black. We did not go into it. It was getting dark and we needed to figure out how we were getting back home after walking all that way. Both of us weren't interested in walking.
We had been looking at the hop on hop off tour buses and decided that now was a good time to buy a ticket. It was good for the rest of our evening and then the entire day the next day. You know I love riding on buses in big cities or on tours, so I was pretty pumped to get on the double decker bus and sit at the top, even in the threat of rain.
We made it to an area where the famous shops of Lauffette were located. We went into this shopping mall briefly and was blown away by the rich, expensive, cream of the crop shopping inside one of the malls. I wondered who in the world can afford to shop at these places?
I wanted something a lot less expensive, such as thrift stores, to go into. So Chris helped me locate some things the next day.
The second day, It took a bit of searching but we finally found our bus stop. The bus dropped us off the Louvre Museum. Yes, probably one of the most famous museums in the world. Just five miles of walking to see everything...
We did not see everything.
We stood in line to get through security. Then stood in line to get tickets. Then stood in line to get some food. We were about to stand in line to use the bathroom and Chris suggested we just go into the museum and find another bathroom. So we take this escalator up three flights, following the green exit sign that we are seeing everywhere, and we find ourselves at the top looking at a security officer. It was then we realize, we just took an exit to get out of the museum and the officer does not care that we made a mistake, he points us back to the first line we had to stand in for security in order to get back into the museum.. At that point, I just started laughing. I mean, what else can you do? We stood in another line, then managed to get into the right part of the museum.
We saw a lot in the amount of time we spent in the Louvre. We didn't spend a lot of time there, and were very focused about what to visit. Chris again had pulled up the Web suggestions of what was important to see. He was amazed when I told him a little about all the ten things he had on his list. I didn't tell him I had already read the same article about them until after he was shocked I knew so much. That's what we do when we are bored in line.
We, finally, after a long maze of following the museums silly signage and maps, made it to the infamous Mona Lisa. We found she is still holding that silly smirk and that the picture isn't real big. We saw the Nike, a sphinx, the Venus, some guy that looked like my Uncle Steve, a half man half deer, the head of John the baptist on a platter, a famous painting, several giant famous paintings with a lot of nude people in them, and a plethora of all sorts of other things.
The bottom floor of the museum part we were in smelled like dead rats. That may have been coming from their ventilation system... When we exited the Louvre the second time, we did it on purpose and had a sandwich in hand. I shared with the fat French penguins. I probably wasn't supposed to do that, but I did not see any signs in my language that said I couldn't.
Speaking of fat. These French people are all really thin folk. I guess they walk everywhere, smoke like chimneys and don't eat a lot of processed food. I know we walked a ton. And we did not feel bad about eating the goodies we did eat.
In the next few days, we visited Disney Euro. We weren't impressed. This Disney had nettles in their shrubs and weeds choking out their grass. They let people smoke everywhere and their rides broke down all the time. The park was smaller than California by a lot and true to theme park food, it wasn't good and costed a lot. We dubbed this place Diet Disney and left early. I don't recommend going there.
Chris took me to many different French thrift stores. They mainly sell vintage clothing and leather and furs are in plenty. We were able to get in on the tail end of a flea market, which I wished I had been at earlier.
We rode rental bikes mostly on the last day in Paris. The whole city has this bike system for everyone, its pretty great. However, France charged us for a bike- Some 350 euros... we couldn't communicate to them and they didn't make it easy to fight it.
We managed to get to the airport and as we are driving into it are quickly looking up the french words for rental car return. I actually was able to help with that, which I felt good about.
It took a lot longer than we allowed time for which was over two hours once we were at the airport in getting our bags checked, going through one security line, that was really long, then taking a train to another hub only to go through another security line. By the end we were jogging to get to our plane. And I still got an extra bag and person check. We managed to get Grandma the macaroons she requested as well as make it to the plane on time. The flight home was good. A great recovery time and of remiscincing about our adventure. Yes. We did a lot, saw a lot, learned a lot and plunged back into our roles at parents with only minor shell shock. We are pretty fantastic people to travel with. I credit Chris mostly with the fantastic part.
Prudence O'Haire
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