The Best Laid Plans
I thought I had brought the right adaptor for the electric
plugs here in Europe but it was not the case. No adapter, dead battery, no
computer, no posting. Sorry. I figure it was the end of the bad karma from our
delayed beginning.
Our flight arrived Thursday morning at 5 am in the
dark. It would have been easy and
expensive to take a taxi into the city but I love a challenge and the train is
only 9 euro and 45 minutes not including head scratching, indecision and trying
not to look like you don’t know which way to go. It is well worth the effort, as you climb the stairway out
of the metro, it opens onto the Champs-Elysees and the monumental sight of the
Arc de Triomphe is before you. The angle of the early morning light shows the
relief sculptures on the Arc so well.
You can’t realize the scale of this monument until you are standing in
front of it.
A walk down the Champs-Elysees to our hotel reminded us how
hungry we were and luckily there was a bistro, Le Montaigne, right across from
where we are staying. Cappuccino,
a piece of buttered baguette, a croissant and a glass of orange juice are a
standard French breakfast, a cigarette too, but I skipped that part. It was beautiful
enough for a still life painting.
Our first sightseeing stop was Sainte-Chapelle, a royal
medieval Gothic chapel consecrated in 1248. It was commissioned by King Louis
IX of France to house his collection of Passion Relics. It retains one of the most extensive collections
of 13th-century stained glass anywhere in the world.
We thought we could pretend that we had missed a night’s
sleep during the plane ride over and with the six-hour time change. I stepped out though the open doors of
Sainte-Chapelle to snap a few photos.
As I turned around and looked back inside I saw my dear husband with the
colorful, dappled light of the stained glass windows shining on him (angles
singing here) and realized that he looked like he hadn’t slept all night and I
probably did too.
After a rest we headed back out to the Arc de Triomphe. We
arrived just after the sun had set, purchased a ticket and followed the people
ahead of us through the doorway up the stairs, stone circular stairs about four
feet wide that spiral up and up and up.
I had to stop several times to catch my breath. No one mentioned all the steps. The
view from the top at night was amazing.
You can see how the streets fan out from all sides of the monument. After taking many photos we re-entered
the building. A guide asked if we’d wanted to ride the elevator down. Tip- if you go to the Arc de Triomphe,
after you purchase your ticket walk across the way and take the elevator to the
top, not the stairs.
Heading out to Giverny tomorrow to see the gardens and home
of Claude Monet.
Until we meet again… Au revoir!
