Paris Day 1 Part 2

 So, the boat was chaotic to get on. Half a dozen boats load up, and you follow signs, hoping you are on the right one. It isn't complicated, but I will be honest: for some reason, it made me nervous that I wasn't getting on the right one. No idea why. I have done this in other places, and we do it at home all the time, so what's the big deal? We were on the right one. However, we were almost at the cut-off time, so what were probably the best seats were all gone. The best seats would be on the top, right on the edge. No one obstructs your view; you are high enough to see everything. There are also seats inside with a window or in the middle of the boat inside. Why would you ever want to sit there and see nothing? We were on the outside on the bottom. Some seats wrap around the boat. They are right on the water, so they are a bit chilly. They are definitely chilly on an overcast, drizzly day, but they don't have anyone in front of you. They are lower, of course, so it isn't as great a view, but in reality, it isn't bad. The boat slowly moves down the Seine River. It becomes clear that this was Paris's major highway at one point. The entire ride you see statues, art, whatever you want to call it on the river. Clearly, it was put there for people who would be traveling on the river. Driving a car by, you would not look down into the waterways hoping for a glimpse of something pretty. Even the bridges, for the most part, have interesting designs and carvings on them. There are statues, and this tour almost transports you to the Paris I believed in. Except the Olympics were coming. So some sites that you are supposed to get a peek at, like Notre Dame, had tarps up covering the work they were doing. So that kind of ruins it and reminds me of Edmonton again, more construction. The neat thing about the river, though, is the people on it. There are many out croppings into the river where people were happily sitting and eating lunch, just visiting, or smoking. People do like sitting on the river. It is very different from the Edmonton River Valley, though, or most river valleys in Canada. There are no trees. You can tell you are in the city as everywhere you look, there are great brick walls lining the river and buildings. I doubt if you are in Paris, you are looking for a river tour that will show you trees; it was shocking to me. On our river tour, you can see the city behind the outdoors; in Paris, it is all city. I recommend a river tour; get there early so you get a good seat, and hopefully, it is a nice day for you. There were headphones available, and I believe you could tune them into different channels to get a "guided" tour in various languages. We did not take advantage of this and possibly should have. I can't really know what they would be saying, but I am guessing just an annoying voice saying stuff like, "To your left is Notre Dame." There were some things it would have been great to get some info on, but generally, it was a nice sightseeing tour. 

                                                    All along the river there are statues and such

We had a bit of time between our river and bus tours, so we decided we needed lunch. We made a rookie mistake. The bus was picking us up at the same spot we met our tour guide. On a little square right beside the Eiffel Tower. First off, it was stupidly busy; second, I don't like these little cafes as much as I thought I would. They pack you in! So we ordered sandwiches. Do you want fries with that? Yes sure. Coffee and water, and that was all. It was by no means exceptional. Gone for 16 days, I think. Say 2 meals a day that aren't breakfast, 32 meals, and this was for sure in the bottom quarter, BUT it was possibly the most expensive. There were a couple more that were more, but they had wine and appies and were much better. So if you want a side that costs extra, and since it is beside the tower, double the normal price. Of course, it seemed to take forever to order and to get food. The fact was, by the time we were done, I was itching to get the bill to get across the street so as not to miss our bus tour. I will say this, they were pleasant. Some people we ran into in Paris were dicks, but everyone here was awesome. I guess for an overpriced meal, they should be.

                                                    Not sure what this one was

This is really where my greed backfired. The tower was incredible, the boat trip was enjoyable, and this tour was good as well, but seeing the major highlights of Paris without actually going in or anything sucked. It is being shown everything you want, but being able to do nothing is a tease. The blue balls of tourism. We were on the top of the bus, so that was better, but because of the drizzle, they would not open the top. There were windows we could open, and we did, but it was not the same. The guide was very good; she was fluent in seven languages, and I believe she used 3 of them on this tour. This is where I wished we had gone to the Palace; at least I could have taken time and seen things, not just taken a snap and go. They don't even stop; they just drive by. The best part, though, was when we drove by the Louvre, we saw a ton of pubs and cafes. Since we had tickets at the Louvre the next day, we tried to remember it so we could head there after. Take the bus tour if you are there for a few days. Do it early, and maybe it will help you pick all the things you want to do. If only a day or two, take the risk and do whatever you pick! It is a whiny first-world tourist problem, BUT again, hopefully, it is nicer out for you! Something annoyed the shit out of me while we drove. I know I shouldn't judge; most of the world's problems come from people not minding their own business, but it annoyed me. So there is a family, and they take the front seat, which is the primo seat. OK, I can live with that. Hopefully, they enjoy it. Hopefully, the kids get to see Paris. If I had children, I would want them to see the world. Dad was an uber douche. 75% of the ride, he sits and snaps selfies. OK, we snapped a lot of them on our trip as well. No, this guy is just snapping his selfies, not with his wife and kids, just himself. I don't know, I am not a father, so maybe I should just shut up, but it seemed like the whole thing was about him, not his family, not the tour of Paris, just him. I get it; deep down, we all like it a little when we post something cool on social media. Maybe something others will get jealous of. This clown seemed to live for it, guy you took the best seat in the house and your more about selfies than Paris, fuck off. You're more about selfies than your wife or kids, fuck off. Literally more than the sore back, the rain, the cool wind, this dick annoyed me. Again none of my business, and I am not sure why, but this guy, well fuck him. 

                                            Another piece of art on a bridge

So the bus dropped us off at the same corner where the day started. It was mid-afternoon, and all our plans were done for the day. First, we had to use the bathroom; here is a pro tip! Every hotel has a bathroom on the main level or somewhere by the entrance. Walk in like you own the place or are at least staying there, look around for the sign, and you will be good to go. Chances are the hotel will have a nicer, cleaner bathroom than a random store, and you don't have to buy some garbage you don't need. We went to a rather large and nice-looking hotel with a lineup of cabs out front. We walked down the line of cabs until we saw the least murder-looking cab driver and knocked on the window. He explained it didn't matter; if you wanted a cab, you had to hop in the first one. So, of course, we did and headed back to our hotel. As a tourist, chances are you will use a cab. It sucks when you don't speak the language, but in general, we didn't have issues with cabs. You can also use Google Maps to make sure they are taking you the right way. I had to rationalize in my own head that a major cab company is OK to ride in. We do it here daily, so what would be the difference there. 

                                            More Statues

It was early, so when we got back to the hotel, we asked the concierge what was in the neighborhood that might be cool to do. The Paris catacombs are a straight shot up the road, 10 – 15 minute walk. We were both excited; that could be a fun experience, so we headed that way. It isn't hard to find; a small park is on the corner, and an impressive lion statue also stands nearby, but sadly, it was closed. We were also unaware it was "May Day" in Paris, so that is why the doors were closed. I guess May Day is a public holiday; even with all the research in the world, you can miss something when traveling. We didn't know what May Day was; surprisingly, we didn't really run into much of it. So, if you don't know, May Day is the 1st of May, and it is kind of like Labour Day here. Except it is an actual labor day. People get out and protest and close roads down, pushing for better working conditions and things like that. Not just tossing burgers on the BBQ like we do here. Honestly, from what I saw over there, workers have it pretty damn good. The service industry even makes a living wage! Not sure what they had to protest, but everyone has the right to protest. Either way, catacombs were closed. They go on the list; if I am ever back in Paris, I want to check them out.

                                            Sadly our views because of upcoming Olympics

So slightly disappointed, we walked back to the hotel and decided to grab a snack. We didn't think we were hungry enough to have dinner that day, but we wanted something in the guts. Just past our hotel is a little place called Boulangerie de Pere en Fils. We had walked by a few times, and it always looked busy, and it always smelled great. There was always a line, which is usually a good sign. This started to fill out my Paris dream, finally getting something fresh to eat. The sad thing is I legit cannot remember what I picked up, it was sweets for sure, but for the life of me, I don't remember what. Started eating it on the walk back to the hotel and thinking how awesome it was but I cannot think what it was. I wanna say croissant. As soon as we got to the hotel's front doors, though, we knew it wouldn't be enough for a meal. Across the road is a little Café called Maison Edgar. We said screw it and went over to give it a try; they must have small plates we can nibble on. We got in, and it was slow, I mean, not busy. The menu was English-friendly, and they did have tapas we could have, so we ordered three plates and some wine. This continued my Paris dream. Seating outside, we sat inside. People are sitting and chatting, not even with plates in front of them. Cigarette smoke came in the window, which shocked me. It has been long since that smell was in a restaurant here. Now they brought the wrong wine at first. While the menu was English-friendly, the waitress was not. There are three types of Parisians. There are those who know and are willing to speak English. Ones that are absolute dicks and won't even try; they also get mad if you try to speak it to them and bridge the language gap. The last is the triers; they will give it a go but may mess it up. The waitress was not a dick, but she was not trying English and didn't like me trying French. I am assuming that is why the wine was wrong. It got corrected, and I believe the manager working became our server as she went on lunch at the bar. The food was decent but normal, and the food was safe down to Gyoza. Nothing new or exciting was tried that night. The manager was fluent in English and asked him how to ask for the bill in French, and he was happy to help. 

                                                         I liked this bridge art

We went for a small stroll after. There really wasn't much for us to see at this point in the neighborhood. While there are cafes and stuff we didn't really want or need to sit. We just felt that compulsion to not just sit in our room and waste an evening. There is another side to this, maybe don't pressure yourself to do things for no reason. If your tired or just want to relax, do it. That's what I learned from this walk. Doing something pointless doesn't bring joy or add to a trip. The only thing that even sticks out about this walk was, we cut through an alley to head back to the hotel. There was a white van sitting in the alley and as we got close it started rocking. We could here noise coming from inside, maybe a chant or something. There was no windows on the van part, just the front window and two on the back doors but they were painted white. Just as we passed the doors pop open and out jumps a group of what I would guess was African males. 

                                            It seems to go on and on forever

That was the end of the day, really. We went back to the hotel room, and I did some writing and reading, but it was a fairly early night, which wasn't too bad. Did help get over jet lag.