Arriving in Paris

The Eiffel Tower, Photograph by Amy L. Fukunaga, © 1997, All Rights Reserved

After a long ride, we reached Paris, the Montmartre area where our hotel was. Hotel Mercure was situated near shops and stores, and bordered by another hotel next door. The Montmartre Cemetery across the street, was pointed out to us by Chris, our tour guide. Montmartre, being a section in the art community, had famous notables buried in its cemetery. We'd already passed another cemetery earlier and noted Elizabeth Barret Browning's gravestone there.

Hotel Mercure was another tour group hotel, with a restaurant area on the first upper level. This was the hotel at which I was to later order my "ham and cheese" sandwich, which came surprisingly as two rolls, one with a slab of ham, the other with a slab of cheese.

The hotel floors were arranged unusually, with several angular wings to each floor. On the walls were Henri Matisse art reproductions. I remember thinking that we had an easy room to find, since it was so close to the elevator.

The hotel room was comfortable but lacked air-conditioning. A desk area near the windows and a small sign indicated that the windows should not be opened, even for ventilation! On the right side of the room, sat a small bar, filled with soft drinks, beer and wine. It was also stocked with cans of peanuts, and candies, to accompany one's choice for liquid refreshment.

Chris warned us about the lack of amenities in Europe. We were no longer in the United States, land of conveniences. When a traveler visits the European continent, it's a matter of entering the Old World. That meant in some hotels a lack of air-conditioning, elevators which could hold only three people, or being unable to wash one's hand laundry and use an iron.

Carol and I accessed America Online from Paris, but it would be the last place that we would be able to get online while in Europe.

The area near the hotel was bustled with traffic, as people shopped, or chatted with one another at cafes. American fast food outlets such as McDonalds served hamburgers and soft drinks. A cinema on the same block advertised the movie, Speed2, starring Sandra Bullock speaking French.

The streets near Hotel Mercure weren't as clean as I'd expected. With the traffic that zipped around the area it would be difficult to keep the place immaculate. There were newsstands nearby, populated by vendors selling French newspapers, magazines, postcards, and the occasional English-language periodical. And in Europe, sexy photos and materials were sold at these stands.

Stores and shops lined long boulevards. After traveling in Europe, I now understand the architectural layout of New York city. It's based on a model similar to European cities, with numerous shops and stores all in different parts of the city, each area with its own personality. In Paris, buildings had small verandas and metal balconies, designed with intricate grill work. On some verandas were brightly-colored flowers growing in planters or pots.

On our first night in Paris, we dined rather late at Les Noces de Jeannette restaurant in a second floor dining room that we shared with another tour group.

Stairs are notoriously narrow in some European hotels and restaurants - so the smart traveler that wears sensible shoes will find the up and down hike manageable. Otherwise, it can be like tip-toeing in some stairwells. And heaven help the woman with the high pointy heels! Les Noces de Jeannette was no exception, as each person entering the restaurant's upstairs dining room, had to walk very carefully up and down the stairs.

We had appetizers before dinner, along with the customary liquid refreshments. Some people like myself had soft drinks, while others sampled the wine and liquor. Also on the drink menu was "still" water (bottled water).
My dad and Carol ordered escargot for appetizers. I don't remember what I ate as an appetizer, but I recall seeing those two use special scoopers to navigate their way to the tender innards of the escargot.

My order for dinner included two small filets of beef, with a sauce, accompanied by potatoes and a vegetable. It was not that good, and we would have other tour group meals that would prove to be more memorable.

Sightseeing was still on the agenda, even though it was close to 9:30 p.m. when we finished dinner. The next stop on the tour was a night view of Paris, to see the lit-up view of the Eiffel Tower, and other well-known monuments. It was pretty, when we saw the sights. I have to admit to being sleepy at some points, and so I missed a number of sights. I nudged my sister in the seat next to me, but the wine she drank for dinner worked its relaxation powers, so she missed a good portion of the night viewing.

NEXT DAY:

The next day we were on the bus again, sightseeing with the group. I didn't realize that we would be required to walk along a bridge over the Seine which was rather high in heights for me. Our tour bus stopped near the crossover where the Notre Dame cathedral was situated. Alongside the Seine were streets full of traffic, raring to go once the lights changed.

I was concerned about going across, so I waited at a cafe nearby. Carol came back for me, after a bit. Luckily she was open to doing things without the tour group, since we weren't sure where they would be once we left them.

So on we went, on our own to the Eiffel Tower, and then to the Louvre. That turned out to be fortuitous, for we probably saw more on our own than with the group.

Being appeciative of the French lifestyle, my sister learned how to speak French in college. Those were the days of the 1960's - 1970's when Catherine Deneauve and her sister Francoise Dorleac were movie actresses starting out in films. It was also the time of French singer Charles Aznavour, the movie, "A Man and A Woman, and the filmmaker, Francois Truffaut.

Carol visited Paris in the 1970's, when she had a short, adventurous stint as a stewardess with one of the major airlines. Her route was the international run so she was able to visit London, and Paris, before she was bumped from the airline due to cutbacks.

That prior knowledge of things French came in handy during our three-day stay in France. We spent a few minutes at the cafe that I stopped at, and attempted to determine where we would go next and how to get there.