"They" (those researchers that Paula Poundstone mocks on "Wait Wait" each week) say that the most joyful part of a vacation is the planning of the vacation, more than the actual vacation. I'm not so sure I agree with that, but I admit that the planning, and the reflection, are part of the pleasure for me. Blogging about the trip is a way to keep track of the trip, and remember some of the (shareable) highlights.
Our first day in Paris was perhaps one of the more exciting days because the sun was shining (rare for much of our trip), and it was our FIRST TIME in Paris. Even though we were jet lagged, and hadn't slept, we stayed up late that first day. We arrived in Paris in the morning, and was in our hotel by early afternoon. We had plenty of daylight to see the city since the sun didn't set until after 10pm: this was a little disconcerting at first, but eventually, we counted on those long days of day light (even though it meant staying up late to see the sunset). Our room wasn't ready yet, so we took a quick one hour walk around the neighborhood while we waited.
We began our day by walking toward the Seine and Notre Dame, about a 10 minute walk from the Hotel Agora Saint Germain, passing by Le Metro, a café that was just so---Parisian:
Then, returning to our hotel, we walked by the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and visited Saint Severin, a church famous for its stained glass.
When the room was ready, we fought the urge to nap, and went out again, deciding to take a one hour boat ride in the Seine: while it was beautiful, and an easy way to see so many of the sites we were planning to visit that week (the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower), the rhythm of the boat nearly put us both to sleep.
After the cruise, we walked to Luxumbourg Gardens, then to a pedestrian alleyway near Blvd. St. Michele for a dinner of couscous, and finally, a sunset walk along the Seine again (and remember, sunset is at 10pm). We successfully fought off jetlag that first day.
The picture above is of one of the many bridges over the Seine where people (tourists?) have placed locks with their names on the lock to lock their love for ever. This has caused bridge failures. (Interestingly, the bridges in Amsterdam have only a handful of locks, so presumably the Dutch cut off the locks each week to avoid the same fate.)
Thus ended a long first day in Paris, a city I truly loved.
The "locks" custom is fascinating. Thanks for the image and the post. I wonder if the custom was started by some "fabricant de cadenas" (like the "three on a match is bad luck" custom which was allegedly started by Swedish match manufacturer Ivar Kreuger as an attempt to sell more matches).
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