Paris Impressions

Finally! We made it to Paris! What surprised me the most was how familiar it all seemed. For someone who loves movies as much as I do, Paris feels like an old friend because we’ve seen so many of her iconic buildings and romantic streetscapes come to life in the cinema. She is, indeed a femme fatale, a diva, a star.

Our first night, we had a rendezvous with our American friends Maureen and Steve, and their charming daughter Kimmy, plus their friends from Germany. We all boarded a clean, bright city bus and took in the views on the way to the Eiffel Tower. We timed our visit to the tower for just after sunset, when she is lit up to her most flattering advantage. Shortly after we arrived, the incredible iron monolith burst into a brilliant show with thousands of lights flashing and sparkling in ecstatic frenzy. What a sight!

We walked across the Seine, stopping briefly to watch the boats and admire nearby bridges, before purchasing some crepes from a street vendor. The night was clear and brisk, and we were slightly intoxicated by the mere fact we were in Paris. But, I was weary from a day of travel and a miserable head cold, so the party broke up and we took another bus back to our hotel.

As is Tim’s and my custom when we first arrive at a great city, we booked two different loops of a sightseeing tour the following morning. Breakfast at a small cafe, followed by easy navigating through the underground metro system, brought us to the hop-on, hop-off double-decker bus. We were happy to see the sun, but were missing the warmth of Portugal as we made a chilly tour of all the highlights. It is a cliche’ to mention the vast amount of history that’s taken place in the this city. Centuries of art and culture have been inspired by her, and are now protected and preserved in her magnificent museums. Even the “ordinary” apartments of Parisians through the ages are elegant, and stately. They fill block after block, street after street, throughout the fashionable and less fashionable districts of the city.

By mid-afternoon, our tours over, we settled into another small cafe for a late lunch. We spent on two burgers and two beverages twice what we spend on a full dinner in Setubal, but the burgers were delicious and the atmosphere was magical. Who pinches pennies when in Paris?

We strolled a few blocks to the Louvre museum to people-watch and get a glimpse of the massive building. In the half hour or so that we meandered in the new visitor entrance of the pyramid, we were overwhelmed. The modern architecture is absolutely as grand and timeless as the enormous former palace that makes up most of the cavernous galleries of this place. We were two of thousands of folks at the Louvre that day. It was clear we had arrived too late, and with too little stamina to make much of a dent on the artwork housed here, but we’d absorbed plenty of the atmosphere, so we decided to head for the hotel. Taking a hike through city streets, across a bridge, down a pedestrian boulevard, we could drink in even more of the Parisian vibe. Traffic was intense, but it had no impact on us as pedestrians. We learned later that the Prime Minister of China was in town for meetings with President Macron, and security on the roads was high. I was feeling completely tapped out when we arrived at the hotel around 4:30. I had to bail on Tim and dinner with friends in favor of sleep. Waking only briefly to eat some of the crackers and cheese Tim had brought me, I slept through until 7:30 the next morning.

The following morning, still in the clutches of the head cold, we began what was supposed to be an easy day. We enjoyed a different view of the city from a boat on the Seine. Sheer delight, again conjuring scenes from countless films we’d seen. The plan for after the cruise was to take a short walk along the river and grab a bus to the Museum d’Orsy, to visit some Impressionist masterpieces. When we got to the bus stop, it was closed. In dire need of lunch, toilets and rest, we decided to walk toward the next bus stop in search of a restaurant where could could satisfy all of our bodily needs. As luck would have it, we chose the only extended length of pavement in all of Paris with neither toilets, nor cafes, and precious few benches. We noticed that the main street we were on, and most of the intersecting streets, were blocked by all kinds of police vehicles and gendarmes. These guys were dressed in black and were covered in so much protective gear, they looked like armadillos. Watching the news later that day, we learned that Angela Merkel from Germany had joined President Macron for his talks with the Chinese Prime Minister, and large swaths of the city were virtually shut down. That included the bus line we planned to take to the museum. We trudged wearily on, me fading like an old corsage. When we finally reached our destination, Tim checked out the best way to enter the mammoth building. No luck. He learned the museum was at capacity, and they were only letting small numbers of people in as the same number exited. Looking at the entrance queue of a few hundred people, we knew the Impressionists would have to wait until our next visit. We grabbed lunch, rest (and a toilet break) across the street and then began the loooong walk to the metro station that would take us to our hotel.

While I napped in preparation for dinner with Maureen, Steve, and Kimmy, Tim explored town on his own. The evening ended with a wonderful meal and great conversation with old friends. I was completely satisfied with my trip to this world-class city.

In my next post I’ll tell the story of meeting a woman at the next table in a restaurant our first night. It set a jovial mood for the whole trip. Now, I’ll end with a thought that has been nagging me since we left Paris. For all the talk about things we’ll see on our next trip to the city, I really wonder if the next trip will ever happen. With all the world that we’ve not yet glimpsed, will we really return to the places we’ve already seen? I grieve slightly at the lost opportunities of this visit to Paris, for fear they may never come again. But I also smile, knowing we were actually able to walk along the fabled streets, breathing the air and seeing the sights of that magnificent place.