Day Six
Day six, otherwise known as stairs day! We didn’t really plan ahead for our activities this day and the shear amount of stairs we would be doing by day’s end.
We started the day at the Eiffel Tower where we climbed the stairs to the second platform, approximately 700 stairs total. You can’t take the stairs all the way to the top. If you want to go all the way to the summit it’s an elevator ride up from the second platform and a second fee. The day that we went the summit was closed due to high wind.
All the pictures I’ve ever seen of the Eiffel Tower was of the tower itself or the grand gardens out front. There’s also a cute little lake and garden area at it’s base once you go through security.
On the first observation deck there was a little heated bubble/room with video games. There was also a little coffee shop counter and cute little seating areas made out of tram capsules.
On the second observation deck there’s a macaroon bar, of all things. Of course we rewarded ourselves with the yumminess. I discovered early this day why you should never wear pants that drag on the floor in Paris. My pants soaked nearly to my knees by the end of the day.
Climbing the tower’s stairs wasn’t really that hard but the thighs for sure were letting themselves known. Added bonus: the fee for the stairs is cheaper than the elevator.
After the Eiffel Tower we went to the Catacombs. At a certain point in Paris’ history they moved all the cemeteries’ bodies to the catacombs underneath the city. They’re 20 meters down, which meant going down a narrow spiral staircase 20 meters into the ground.
The bones were really surprisingly well organized. Really well, really creepily organized. As you go deeper the years get older and you could tell that those that were moving were getting bored with merely stacking the bones. They started putting designs into them: hearts, crosses, circles, random patterns, etc. As we were walking through the lights started to malfunction and at times we would be in absolute pitch black if it wasn’t for our cellphone light flashes. There was a tour group behind us that was actually ushered out because of the light issue. The experience was very unique and off the beaten path of regular tourism. I loved it. Looking through the pictures, take a special look at the sign for the entrance. They managed to sneak a skull in.
After the catacombs we bought a sandwich to split for the train ride to our next place: Chateau de Vincennes, a medieval castle. The Keep on the grounds was converted into a prison for awhile to hold regular prisoners as well as royal prisoners. You can still see the graffiti chiseled into the stone walls from the prisoners from hundreds of years ago. Included in the grounds of the castle was a gorgeous cathedral with some stained glass windows that rivals some at Notre Dam, in my opinion. Everything was white and airy and peaceful inside. I loved it.
By this time my thighs were literally shaking so I had to sit for a few minutes to rest, drink some water, have a protein bar.
From here we ventured out to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery, the largest and most famous cemetery in Paris. It is 44 square kilometers big. We visited Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde’s graves. Both grave sites are behind protective barriers to prevent vandalism.
Jim Morrison is behind what basically looks like a roadblock gate. The tree next to him was covered in used gum. It was obviously some kind of homage but I didn’t get it.
Oscar Wilde’s grave is surrounded by Plexiglas. Visitors used to leave behind red lipstick kisses on his gravestone. The lipstick was starting to damage the stone and was getting to be expensive so the family erected the Plexiglas. We could see people still left kiss prints on the glass.
At this point we could hear a bell in the distance, like a salvation army bell, ringing. We didn’t realize until someone zipped by in a car yelling at us in French to get out that it signified that the cemetery was closing.
It was very interesting see the older gravesites directly next to the newer, more modern sites. A several hundred year old gothic mini-chapel could be right next to a black granite slab modernist gravestone. It was very cool to see. There was even one that had a giant camera and a thing you could scan with your phone to an informational website.
It was very dark by time we made our way out of the cemetery. From here we made our way to the train station and then home. Napped, showered, and then fancified ourselves for our dinner reservation for our “last supper”.
Our last supper was at Le Wagon Bleu. The front room looks like a standard bar, but the back room looks like a diner car of the Orient Express. It was very cool and unique.
To drink I had my one alcoholic drink of the week: a cupidon (manzana, crème de peche, jus d’orange, jus d’airelle, and champagne). I tried a quintessential French food: beef tartare. It came out with a raw egg yolk on top. Mixed in was chopped onions, peppers, and various seasonings. According the waitress I was supposed to mix it all together, and if I wanted I could mix in either hot sauce, worsteshire sauce, or ketchup. I opted not to mix anything else with it as I found it flavorful enough on it’s own. It was really good but it was a bit weird eating cold beef.
We also had a yummy cheese sampler plate. For dessert we got le fiadone to share. Le fiadone is a traditional fresh Corsican cheese and lemon cake, served with lemon sorbet. It was interesting. Good flavors but very weird texture, kind of crumbly but soft.
I love the difference in height here in our picture together. I’m wearing ballet flats and she’s wearing 6 inch high heels. Her boob is basically on my shoulder. Lol…
When we got home I packed for the next day and Jessie passed out on the couch, while her cat tried to get her snoring catatonic body to pet her.
Adventures from the Loser's Bench 