Paris

PARIS

After spending 3 days in Scotland, we took an early morning flight to Paris.  Our hotel was 2 blocks from the Eiffel Tower, and the views were nothing short of spectacular.  The picture above is the view from the front of our hotel.  We had lunch at a French/Italian cafe filled with colonial African paintings and decor on the walls that looked like something out of Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro.  

After checking into our hotel, we found that the hotel had given us some fresh macaroons due to our newly married status.  They were fantastic.  Every single one of them tasted like they'd just been made by a world class chef.  

The best part of our trip to Paris was The Midnight In Pairs on Wheels tour.  If you ever go to Paris, look up this tour and contact Nicolas.  It was hands down the best tour we'd ever been on.  Nicolas picked us up at our hotel in a classic 1950s Citroen 2CV and provided us with a nice bottle of chilled champagne just as it started to rain.  Most cities are depressing in the rain, but Paris at night in the rain was gorgeous. 

Our guide drove us all over the city and we saw far more than we'd have ever seen on any normal tour.  We stopped at The Louvre, Moulin Rouge, the Elysee Palace, Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and some amazing side streets that looked completely deserted.  

We drove to the top of Montmartre and got some phenomenal pictures of the Sacre Coeur as it overlooks the city.  Even in the fog and the rain, the views from Montmarte were fantastic.

  
Probably one of the coolest things we got to see on our tour, were the steps where Owen Wilson's character waits to be picked up by Hemingway and Fitzgerald as the clock strikes midnight in the film Midnight In Paris.  I asked Nicolas if we could go get some pictures in front of the steps and he happily obliged.

The tour ended in front of the Eiffel Tower at night and again the pictures were jaw-dropping.  I can't say enough nice things about the tour and everything we got experience.  It made the trip to Paris far better than we could have imagined.

The following day was May Day, which we were unaware is basically Labor Day on HGH.  Virtually every private business and establishment in Paris is closed on May 1st, because they have to pay their employees far more than the usual rate.  Parisians use the day not only as a national holiday, but also as a day to protest a variety of things.  We decided to take the day and walk around the city and take in the sights.  We walked past the Arc de Triomphe and up and down the Champs Elysees, despite most of the businesses being closed.

We ducked into a cafe on the Champs Elysee and spent several hours having lunch, wine, and people watching, which if you're ever in Paris, is first class entertainment.  

On the way back to hotel we took the Paris Metro, which was extremely inexpensive and one of those things you need to do if you go to Paris.  The Metro was clean and is a great means of transportation in Paris.  It is far cheaper than any taxi, and very safe.

We got multiple warnings that the French are arrogant and that you'll be treated poorly if you visit France, but in my opinion that's not accurate.  The service in France, as well as a lot of places in Europe is much more relaxed, and if you accept that most people aren't in a hurry, you'll have a much better experience.  We took the mindset that we were there to enjoy ourselves and relax and it made for a much more enjoyable trip.  We found that with a lot of things in life, if you're polite, patient, and respectful of others, you'll be treated far better.  Learning a few basic French phrases goes a long way with the Parisians.