Paris, Day One

We got up early and had breakfast. The hotel where we were staying provides breakfast as part of the price of renting a room. They had a European style buffet with plenty of ham, fish, cheese, fruit, and some baked goods. They also served omelets to order. This place made the fluffiest ham, cheese and onion omelets I’ve ever had. Once breakfast was done, we headed out to see the sights.

Whenever I visit a town I’ve never been to before, I try to find the double decker busses. They usually charge you a fee for the day, which allows you ride those open topped, double decker busses without restriction. They usually have a circular route around the tourist areas, where they play a narration in several languages, and are a cost effective way to see the sights.

As you can see, the weather wasn’t great for sightseeing.

There were at least two squads of troops patrolling the immediate vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. Note that they have magazines inserted, but also have chamber flags in place. You can see the chamber flags if you zoom into the picture. We would periodically see armed patrols throughout the city, mostly centered around tourist areas. These aren’t parade troops- they appear to be (to my non-soldier Navy eye) regular troops- rifles with the bluing worn off in places, that sort of thing. The beret colors varied- we saw black, dark green, maroon, blue, and black.

These guys were just standing on the banks of the river Seine.

There was a giant shopping mall, two buildings- one for the women that was five stories tall, then you cross a pedestrian bridge over the street to the men’s building, and it was three stories tall. Even the building looked like artwork:

I really like the little cafes that are everywhere. Less of the franchise slop that you find in the US, more of little privately owned places.

The buildings and architecture make me realize just how talented craftsmen used to be. Even in the US, we don’t make stuff like this anymore.

Despite the fact that we rode a bus most of the way, we still managed to walk nearly ten miles, according to my smart watch. After a day like that, it was time to get some dinner and head back to the hotel.