Tuesday clocked in at 18,393 steps on the old step-o-meter. It was a tough one on the legs, feet and knees, but it was ultimately a fantastic day. Cas and I actually started out by dipping out. We went to the Crêperie, just up the street from our apartment- just the two of us- and we didn’t tell anyone we were leaving. We got up, showered and headed out the door without telling another soul, and when we were out, we walked to a spot right next to the Pantheon, ordered fancy coffee, and did some high-quality people-watching. Best people watching moment was the guy who was walking across the street, but found a driver coming on a perpendicular path to be headed the wrong way. I don’t have a clue who was in the right or who was in the wrong, but the walker was infuriated. He stopped in mid-intersection and waved his arms out wide. He stuck his tongue out. He was menacing in the way that an eight-year-old boy can be menacing- meaning that he was a little ridiculous, totally angry and absolutely goofy. Chalk that up to the first time I laughed at a ridiculous man in Paris while enjoying fancy coffee with my guy at a sidewalk cafe table. First time for everything, I guess.
From there, we booked a hop-on-hop-off bus and went to the Saint-Chappell and the Conciergerie. Talk about two different experiences. Saint-Chappell was what you think. It was a space for the devout, covered in stained glass. The glass was beautiful, and the space was kind of majestic, if you ask me. Who knows if I’m right? I am still a Protestant, after all. The Conciergerie was interesting. It seemed from the design and the outside to be an all-purpose building. It was a royal mead hall, a kitchen for cooking, space for rubbing elbows and a prison. It was the final spot on a map where Marie Antoinette was housed prior to her demise. The way in which these moments were different was the technology. At the Conciergerie, they issued the seven of us a total of four iPad-style tablets. These tablets had immersive things on them that made the room around you look like it did at different points in history. It was all very neat, but it really limited the experience to one person at a time, so Cas got to see the images and little text layovers, then I did. It was weird. They designed it to immerse you in the experience, but what I felt was that it took us away from the room we were standing in and put our attention on that tiny screen. Maybe I’m getting old…
After these spots, we headed to the Rodin museum. We saw some of his famous works, including, most famously, the Thinker. Initially, the Thinker was called the Poet, and it was supposed to be a representation of Dante Aligheirei, as he stared into the layers of hell conceived of in his book, The Inferno. That adds a layer to your understanding of his facial expression and strained body language, doesn’t it? We saw the Kiss, the Gates of Hell- all the biggies. That fella sure could chisel some rock…
After Rodin, we scooted over to the spot where Napoleon was entombed. It was pretty extravagant. I do think we should honor and remember folks from our countries’ histories and all, but his final resting place was a bit much. We left there and flagged down a hop-on-hop-off bus driver who took us along a path that eventually led to the Arc de Triomphe. We arrived there at the moment when they did their daily remembrance at their tomb of the unknown soldier. It was a ceremony with folks who I assume were retired military. There were school-aged kids and drummers- lots of different folks there, under the grand arch.
When we left there, he headed in the general direction of the Eiffel Tower, stopping for a fancy cocktail and some very good bar food. When I say bar food, you think of pretzels and such, but these were high-end dumplings. It was a nice stop at a bar in a fancy hotel. That was our last hurrah before the Eiffel Tower, where we had timed tickets to go up at 9:30. We rode the elevators all the way up, then climbed the steps to the open-air observation deck. Cas and I sprung for the way-too-expensive, mediocre quality champagne in the crummy plastic cone-cups, but hey, when in the world will we be there again? Live in the moment, folks…
When we got back to the apartment, I suspect it was not difficult for anyone to fall asleep. I know for me, my head hit the pillow, then I was completely out. Today, we have lots of adventures planned, culminating in a trip to the Louvre. See you all on the other side of Wednesday. My gosh- it’s only Wednesday!
Also, here’s the photo album! Hooray: https://tinyurl.com/dunlap-pl
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