Paris, France 2007

We arrived in Paris at about 10am after an all night flight in coach. Maybe next time it would be worth the mileage upgrade to fly in business class. Seats that recline would have been nice, but... I digress. After we arrived we had to make a quick exit out of the airport due to a "suspicious" package left in the airport.

We grabbed a cab for 40 euro to our hotel. The ride was approximately 40 minutes. Once we arrived, our room was not ready, so they stored our luggage so we could begin our sightseeing.

Before we got to Paris we ordered a museum pass which was waiting for us at our hotel. The desk clerk was, initially unable to locate the pass. We ordered them from a place called La Conciergerie, which I found online.  I immediately feared that I had been taken over the internet, but upon review of our confirmation, there was a toll free number which said to call in the event the hotel could not locate the pass. We called and within minutes were handed our museum passes. We purchased a 4 day pass. The passes cost 55 euro each, but they are good for several museums - including Versailles.  You can buy passes for 1 - 4 days. The multi-day passes are for consecutive days.  Depending on your schedule there was a suggestion to buy 2,  2 day passes. When purchasing a museum pass, keep in mind most of the museums in Paris are closed on either Monday or Tuesday.

We stayed in the Opera district at the Best Western Aida Opera Hotel. We left the hotel at approximately noon and walked to the Garnier Opera House. It is not included on the Museum pass. Admission was 8 Euro each to get in it costs 12 euro for a tour. We did not take a tour, because the English tours are only done at certain times & one was not going on when we arrived. This is a spectacular building. My pictures do not do it justice.

After we left the Opera House we headed out to find the Arc di triomphe, which turned out to be an adventure. The streets of Paris are not arranged in square blocks so you can start down a street that appears to be parallel to another street and wind up a considerable distance from where you actually want to be. 

Once we reached the end of the Champs Elysee, we had a hard time figuring out how to get to the Arc di Triomphe. I am going to plead our ignorance to being tired and hungry. Once we figured out how to get to the underground tunnel to get to the Arc, our museum pass was good for a free trip to the top. You should keep in mind if you want to make a trip to the top of the Arc, it is a long walk up a spiral staircase. You may want to hit the stairmaster a few times before you get to Paris, because it is long way up. After we reached the top, we did see an elevator, but I'm not sure if anyone can ride it or if you must have a physical disability. There are nice views of the city, but not as good as Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower.

By the time we left the Arc, we were exhausted from little sleep and hungry because we failed to eat anything after we got off the plane all day. However, we are in luck, as we head up the Champs-Elysees, there are many crepe vendors. Chocolate heals a lot of ails. Well, maybe not heals, but gives you a boost to get back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel, we hit the sack early so we could get an early start the next morning.