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| Location: Paris France | |
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K and Ktoo wrapped their business up at the factory and took the Saturday flight to Paris. The returning AOM flight was filled with older people, probably retired, returning from their summer homes in Canet. After an hour and half flight the plane was approaching ORLY in Paris. They had made hotel reservation in the American Express office in Panama and had only a vague idea of where it was, but they knew it as north of the Seine River and near the Opera. |
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From ORLY airport they took the Air France bus into town. They got off and flagged a taxi and handed the driver the name of the hotel written down. The driver references a map of Paris, which made them feel a little better. 15 minutes later and they are pulling down a one-way street and the driver is putting their two bags out on the sidewalk. |
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| They entered the small hotel and the reception desk is not obvious. A neatly dressed gentleman steps out and presses a button on the side of pedestal to the right of the entrance and a drawer slides out with a Toshiba laptop. K gives him his last name and after a few moments the clerk asks again. Concerned Ktoo digs the reservation form out presents it him. Suddenly the light goes on and he says in good English that the reservation had been canceled. Astounded, they checked the reservation form and in Spanish it says that they were supposed check in on April 9 and stay for 23 days. What the reservations were supposed to be was checking in on April 29 and staying for 3 days. The American Express agent in Panama had made an error and they were in Paris during the May Labor day weekend without a hotel. The clerk took pity on them and made reservations at the Saint Lazertte just a few blocks south and closer to the Opera. But they only had room for only one night, but the current hotel could accommodate them for the remaining two nights. |  |
| The hotel receptionist called a cab and after a wait of 10 minutes it took them on a 3200-franc taxi ride to their new hotel. The Saint Lazertte was a grand affair with marble floor, columns and soaring ceilings. After a short break they headed out for a snack to the sidewalk restaurant across the street. |  |
| After a short break and snack at the sidewalk restaurant across the street they headed underground to the Paris subway. Not as modern as the San Francisco but not as old as New York, it was clean and well organized. After two train changes they exited the subway station into the darkness of night. To their left a quarter mile away the Eiffel Tower pierced the sky like a blazing sword. From their vantage point on the hill they could see the tower surrounded by barricade of busses and a swarm of tour bus escapees milled around in the courtyard under the. They stopped to take a few pictures, but the draw was irresistible and they head down the hill to the base of the tower. On the way they cross the river Seine and along the banks are long tourist boats. There is not much activity at this time of night. The sidewalk a smattering of vendor had laid out small cloths with small metal replicas of the tower and laser points that project silhouettes of, you guessed it, the Eiffel Tower. They eschewed these tourist bobbles and continued their trek. | 
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The tower is nearly over them and continues to spear the sky with lights. At three of the four bases a line stretches out for a hundred feet. At the foot of each pillar a large LCD screen scrolls information with status in 4 languages. The upper level was closed because of overcrowding. They settled in line for the North pillar and it slowly crept forward. There was a smattering of languages around them, but the one that comes out the most distinct is English. Ktoo notices a Cruzan bracelet on the wrist of a man in front of them. She nudges K and he notes it as well. K asks the man if is from St Croix and he replies no that he scuba dives there, and bought the bracelet in St. Thomas. K can see the man’s wife smiling in the background and he considers interjecting that Cruzan bracelets are from St Croix, but decides against it. |
The Eiffel Tower with Strobe Lights on |
| The line continues to inches forward and after an hour they are at the booth. Tickets to the first level are 22-francs, the second level 30-france, and the upper level is closed. Shortly they board the articulating elevator and rise to the first level. Only one couple gets off and soon they are on the second level. The whole car empties out on to the open deck. Lights spread out in all directions. A few brightly lit builds stand out proud, since they have only been in Paris only a few hours they have no idea what they could be. The river Seine cuts near the base of tower and right down the center of Paris. It leaves a path of darkness in the field of street and building lights. Wandering around the deck they keep repeating to each other “We are in Paris!” With so much travel in such a short period it is sometimes hard to keep their local firmly in place. The wandering takes them to a stairway that leads down to first level and they scramble down the iron stairs suspended in the legs of the East tower. More wandering around and gazing into the dark, but hunger is grips them and the last set of stairs leads them down the south pillar. |  |
| Back out on the streets they head for the heart of the city. Walking up the bank of Seine river they cross a well-lit footbridge to the right bank. It’s quiet and residential with closed storefronts on the first floor. But down the street bright lights of the city center draw them on. After a half a mile of walking they start passing restaurants packed with people. Hunger is gripping them and they enter a brightly light place called “Hippopotamus.” Despite that is after midnight, the place is packed and the servers are shuffling orders of thick steaks from the kitchen. They choose lighter meals from the appetizer menu and make quick work of it when it arrives. | 
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| Back out on the street and they find themselves on the Champs Elysees. It is a 4-lane boulevard with sidewalks as wide as the road. People packed the sidewalks and restaurants. They wander down the avenue amid the bustle of people, finding themselves at the Arc D’Triumph and finally hail a cab back to their hotel. |  |
