The City of Lights, Day 4
Trip Start
Jun 04, 2009
1
4
9
Trip End
Jun 24, 2009
Where I stayed
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Monday, June 8, 2009
As couples are given to do, they wanted a day on their own, so Geoff and I spent the day by ourselves. We started at the Eiffel Tower. It rained again today so the upper level was closed (apparently French elevators don't work in the rain?). Regardless, the line was horrendous, so we decided to head for the Arch de Triomphe. The Arch was also closed so we took a few quick pictures and headed for Sacre Cour. Lunch was a quick kebab nearby and then the steep climb up the church's famous steps.
So apparently Sacre Cour is one of the best places to see Paris - unless it's raining. Great. Good planning on our part right? Either way, the church was beautiful and stunning, but the weather was a bummer.
We had some time to kill before meeting up with our friends for dinner so I convinced Geoff to go with me to the Curie Institute. As an engineer I have a passion for science history and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit the lab of the famous Marie Curie. After wandering around for about an hour we finally found it. Except it too was closed. Wonderful. Apparently a simple thunderstorm is enough to shut down the entire capital. Well fortune favors the bold apparently, because as we were walking away from the museum a lady was walking in. I asked her in broken French if we could see the exhibits. She responded in perfect English (of course...) that the museum was closed today, but if we really wanted, we could take a look around. Sweet! After thanking her many times, we went it. It turns out that there isn't much to see. The entire museum is about 3 rooms, two of which are Mme. Curie's old laboratories that you cannot enter and the third is an exhibit hall (all in French). So we saw what there was to see and left. I was more pleased to have my picture taken on the steps than I was with the museum...but that's how it goes. (By the way, if you're interested in science history, Pasteur's museum was much more impressive)
We walked all the way back to the hostel (quite a hike!) and passed the Luxembourg gardens. It was a nice place to stop and sit, but the rain kind of put a downer on the atmosphere. Dinner was at a small place near the hostel. We sat on the porch and watched the rain fall on. It was very peaceful. After dinner we took a walk down through the Louvre and the Tuilerie Gardens - they were quite a sight at night!
