What You’ve Heard Is True (Part 3)
In the previous part of this series of write-ups on my trip to Paris, I visited Tour Montparnasse to find out how difficult seeing famous monuments such as Tour Eiffel can be through early morning haze, and went on to the marvellous Notre-Dame. In this, the third part, I get blasted by a vent at the Louvre, get worn out on the Champs-Élysées and get soaked on top of the Arc de Triomphe.
(Incidently, if you haven’t read part one and/or part two, you really ought to.)
When I told people I was going to Paris, almost all of them asked me whether I was going to the Louvre, to which my answer was ‘yes’. And I did. Technically, I didn’t go inside the Louvre, but I did look at it from the outside. I’d read on the net how the big exhibits such as the Mona Lisa are now behind bullet proof glass and that to see it, you have to battle through a mass of tourists. While I’m sure the inside of the Louvre is very interesting, there’s no way it can all be seen in a day and with my tight schedule, seeing it from the outside was all I could manage. It was still worth it though. The iconic glass entrance pyramids are a spectacle, although rather busy. I was there while half of Spain’s school children were visiting, along with almost the entire population of Japan. I wandered around a bit, taking photos now and again. While in full wander, I spotted something moving up the side of one of the glass pyramids, and I stopped to have a coser look. Even now, I’m not totally sure what it was, but I guessed it was an automatic window cleaning robot. While taking a photo of it, the floor began to vibrate, met with a huge roar and a blast of warm air which made me jump out of my skin. I’d inadvertedly stepped onto a large grate set into the floor. I smirked, as I often do when I do something in public that draws attention to myself and carried on walking.
The Champs-Élysées is…OK. I’m someone who doesn’t like busyness. I like to be able to walk in a straight line, without having to constantly adjust my walking pace or change my direction. Call me crazy, but I also don’t like it when people stop walking right in front of me, causing me to barge into them. Unfortunately, that happened a lot on my walk down that most famous of shopping streets. It was more of a means to and end really. I wanted to get to the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysees provided the most direct route from where I was. I spent about 2 minutes in Virgin Megastore and enjoyed seeing the Police on rollerblades, but other than that, if there was a quicker alternative route to the Arc, I would certainly have taken it. As it was, I’d already walked 8 miles that day and was starting to get tired, so I had no choice but to put up with it.
My second favourite part of Paris after Jardin du Luxembourg is the Arc de Triomphe. It’s a stunning monument sitting grandly in the centre of a death trap masquerading as a roundabout. Never before have I been quite as impressed by stone carvings as I was at the Arc. It’s size and beauty is breathtaking. And the great thing is, you can now go up to the top of it. After 284 steps, you’re met with great view of Paris. The Eiffel Tower nestled in the Paris skyline. The Champs-Élysées stretching out to The Louvre with La Grande Arche at La Défense sitting on the opposite horizon. Twelve major avenues meet at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Place_de_l’Étoile, where the Arc sits. Thank godness there’s an underpass to reach it as the traffic is chaotic at best. It’s a fact that if an accident were to occur on the roundabout (and it often does), no one bothers to find out whose fault it was. From my vantage point on top of the Arc, it seemed like there were no rules. Drivers appeared to only be focused on their desired destinations and to hell with the consequences. The video I shot paints a more accurate picture of what it’s like. It’s as if the traffic is trying it’s best to steal the Arcs limelight. Oddly, it almost does.
I had been lucky with the weather on my trip. The first day was glouriously warm and sunny and day on which I chose to visit the Arc was warmer still. But while enjoying the spectacle on the road below, I didn’t spot the clouds rolling in and got a fair old soaking trying to get to the one and only exit. Luckily, I didn’t have far to go to find cover. The obligatory gift shop selling useless tat was only a few steps away.
And that’s part three. You’re almost done. Part 4 see’s me going to the Grande Arche de la Fraternité at La Défense climbing Montmartre and finishing up back at Tour Eiffel. If you haven’t done so already, go to Flickr to see all of my Paris photos.
