Our Europe Trip Report, Day 13!
Posted by
Mop🧹 (aka rburriel)
Oct 1 '24, 16:58
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WE'RE BACK!
I had opted not to book breakfast at the hotel, which landed us precisely in the position we *didn't* want to be in. We would have to walk down the street while I asked the kids "Do you want to eat here?" Fortunately, being Paris, there were a dozen cafes within a one block radius of the building.
We were scheduled to be at the Musee d'Orsay at 9:30 (at least, that's what our tickets said, although as previously mentioned, the times on the tickets seemed to be more of a suggestion...) We walked in that direction, alongside the Louvre. We passed a McDonald's which is pretty much across the street from the underground mall where the shitty McDonald's was located. My experience with French McDo's the night before prompted me to keep on walking. We finally arrived at one café - Google Maps tells me it's Café Carrousel - and I said "HERE. We will have breakfast here!"
French breakfast appears to entail a coffee, eggs, and a croissant. Sadly, the French seems to enjoy runny eggs (or is this a European thing?) but fair enough. This was my first café au lait (don't call it café olé, you heathens!) in Paris. I'm a fool for thinking that "all coffee is the same". I usually load my coffee up with sugar. I could drink this unsweetened. It was delicious and much too little. Even my oldest - who was still grumpy from the night before - warmed up once we had something to eat. There was some shared anxiety about the time, and how long it was taking to get the check once we were done, but I encouraged the kids to enjoy themselves. We sat outside a French café and had breakfast. We were living the life.
After paying the check, we made our way over the Seine and to the Musee d'Orsay which was just on the other side of the river. Now *THIS* is a great museum. For those who don't know, it's built into the train station that was the model for the train station in Hugo. It's got a gorgeous Art Nouveau design. And the art is from the Belle Epoque and Impressionist period. I could spend all day here. But it's also much smaller compared to the Louvre.
This is where you find Monet and Manet and Degas and Renoir and Seurat and Gauguin and even some van Gogh. I have some great pictures of the kids admiring some of the greatest art pieces in the world.
In the end, we were done in about two hours. I had us scheduled to visit L'Orangerie in the afternoon, but I was wary of doing two museums in one day. It was too early for our scheduled visit to L'Orangerie but we had to cross back over the Seine anyway, and this is where the Jardin des Tuileries is located (the Olympic flame, etc.) A lot of the park here is closed off for the Olympics, but there's a path through to L'Orangerie and I knew it was a much smaller museum. I figured, here we are. Why not see if they'll let us in? Sure enough!
L'Orangerie is the museum built for Monet's "Grandes Decorations". It basically two large oval rooms with giant murals of water lilies. It's a sight to behold. Everyone stands around quietly in awe.
The museum also has a basement and there's a few more art pieces - Matisse, Picasso, Renoir, Rousseau... I see why they have this. People would be upset if it was just two circular rooms and nothing more. But I feel the basement is unnecessary. On the plus side, on the mezzanine down to the basement is a small cafeteria where all the kids found something to eat (well, they had mini cheese pizzas and we bought the last 3).
We were done at L'Orangerie before our tickets were even due. We walked through the Jardin des Tuileries and over what I think was the Olympics broadcast center and back to our hotel, but the day was far from over!
We were scheduled to visit the Eiffel Tower at *10 PM* but it was only about 2 PM. And so it's time for another installment of A Tour of the Laundromats of Europe!
I knew there was a laundromat just up the street from our hotel, maybe a 10 minute walk. I collected everyone's laundry (just about as much as last time!) and made my way up the street. Unlike the laundromat in Edinburgh, which had a bit of a "shop" feel, with a counter and attendant (because they also did laundry as a service there), this one felt more laundromat-like, with machines... and not a lot else.
At this laundromat, you could pay by credit card. Each machine had a number, so you go to a kiosk, enter your number, and tap your credit card. Simple enough. There was a laundry dispensing machine that I couldn't figure out, but that was fine, since I had bought these laundry "sheets" at the Dollar Tree before leaving home. Indeed, through my trip, I handed out these laundry sheets to other people at the laundromat and they were all grateful. (FWIW, the laundry dispensing machine also had a number, so if you entered the number in the kiosk and tapped your card, some detergent would pop out. So now we all know the secret.)
I used one of the giant washers for all the clothes then moved them to one of the giant dryers. The challenge with the dryer is that it ran in 10 minute cycles and couldn't figure out how to stack them. So I would have to tap my card over and over for each 10 minute increment (3 or 4 cycles).
As I waited, other tourists came and went and I showed them the ropes. An American couple with a little girl (4 or 5 years old) came in and I helped them out. They went out and when they returned, they brought me a croissant. SCORE!
Done with the laundry after maybe 90 minutes or 2 hours, I still had *hours* before we had to go to the Eiffel Tower.
With everyone fully rested, and wanting to eat before we got to the Eiffel Tower, we headed out.
Now here's where Google Maps failed us. (I know this now, but didn't know then...) The north bank (is this the Left Bank or the Right Bank?) of the Seine has a metro line. Indeed, that metro line exists immediately across the street from our hotel. The south bank of the Seine has a commuter train ("RER") line that's underground (it's pretty much just another metro). To get to the Eiffel Tower - which is down the ways from us, along the Seine, Google Maps told me to walk to the RER, the entrance of which is basically at the Musee d'Orsay. Not far, but still maybe 15-20 minutes away. The Eiffel Tower is only 3 stops down the line. But we could have gotten on the metro - across the street - and done the same thing.
We got our tickets at the RER station. While we were there, there were two girls - I'll guess Brazilian - who couldn't figure out how to purchase tickets. I tried to help them, but as I began to speak, they asked if they could just follow us through the turnstiles. Uh, sure, whatever. The turnstiles can definitely tell if more than one person goes through (they make unhappy beeping noises), and you also have to "swipe out" to exit. But they were riding the train in the other direction, so I didn't bother with them after they passed through.
We arrived at the Eiffel Tower station within moments but upon exiting, it's just streets, traffic, and buildings (just let me say again how happy I was that we weren't in the UK anymore since driving on the left was really messing with me). Anyway, we couldn't see where the Eiffel Tower was, but there was a Subway's across the street and it turns out the kids all found something to eat there. They have tater tots and chicken nuggets at Subway's in France, and quinoa patties (which apparently is a thing my kids will eat). With Subway's in-hand, we followed Google Maps around a corner at which point, OH! There's the Eiffel Tower! It's beautiful, all lit up at night. It's got the Olympic rings, and at its feet is the beach volleyball court. There's a park around the Eiffel Tower, so we grabbed a bunch and ate, before getting in line enter the Eiffel Tower (tickets purchased in advance, 'cause good luck getting in, otherwise).
Once you're "in", you're at the base of the tower, a large sand and gravel space, with some shops and restaurants. We then entered another line at one of the legs, which gets you onto the elevator. The elevator gets you to the second floor. That's pretty high already, but the third floor is much higher. So you exit the elevator and walk around, enjoy the sights, then get in line for the elevator to the third floor. This elevator is smaller and cozier (the first elevator was large and actually a double-decker). Once at the top, you get to see some magnificent views of Paris, but it's pretty cold, even for August, so it wasn't long before we were in line again to head down to the second floor. And then back in line for the elevator down.
Now here's the catch... there *is* a first floor, and it's NOT the ground floor. The elevator down stops on the first floor. Some people get on, some people get off, and I figured, "Yeah, let's have a look." So we got off. There's a restaurant here, and a gift shop, that was already closed. Nothing to see. So we needed to get back on the elevator now, but of course, the elevator coming down was full, and you have to wait for it to go all the way down, empty, then go back up, then come back down again. That happened twice when finally an attendant arrived as said the elevator was broken, and they escorted us to another of the elevators in a different leg of the tower. Fortunately, that elevator came quickly and there was room enough for everyone. But it was still a frustrating experience.
Once on the ground, everyone was ready to call it a night. We made our way back to the RER station - turns out there's an entrance/exit much closer to the Eiffel Tower than the one we had used, but the other one brought us to a Subway's, so I'm not complaining. Three stations down, and we were back at the Musee d'Orsay station. We walked back across the river and the Jardin des Tuileries - where we got to see some famous Paris rats - and finally made it to our hotel for the night.
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