Disneyland Paris: trip report part three

[battle beast]

On our third day in Paris, we took the train to The Arc and transferred to get to Notre Dame Cathedral. It's huge!

Inside were massive stained glass windows, absolutely beautiful. Nothing I have ever seen in my life can compare with the beauty of those windows. Spectacular!

The cathedral itself was amazing to look at... all of the carved walls, the famous Gargoyles, the wooden doors... just amazing. That’s the only word I can say to explain it.

I went into the cathedral and was immediately told "Moisuer, Chapeau" I forgot to take my hat off in church! Oops!!!

There were [people] outside the Cathedral. "Speak English? Read card!" They'd hold up a card and beg for money. "I am a refugee and I do not work. Give me money!

Uh, no! I work hard for my money, so you get a job! I understand their plight, but how poor are they really when they where Adidas sandals?

After that we took the train to the Eiffel Tower.

As the army patrolled the grounds with machine guns, these men ( they had thick accents; I mean to racism here) ran up to guest hawking cheesy mini tower replicas and other ****.

They didn't just peddle their wears, they HARRASSED you. There wasn't just one or two of them either; there was about twenty or thirty.

Another few of them ran around hawking umbrellas as it was sprinkling out.

As soon as a tour bus pulled up, EVERYONE ran to hawk stuff on the people in the busses. !!!

When you get to the tower, you have to wait in line to get your tickets. THAT takes a while. You also have to puts you bags through airport-like security. I understand why.

The Eiffel Tower cost €12.00 ($19.36 Can; $15.60 US) to up to the third floor, the top most part of the tower.

The elevator to the second floor was quick, but the elevator to the third floor took a while to wait for.

But each floor was worth the wait. It's so incredible to look out over Paris from the top of the tower... it's breathtaking, really.

On the third floor, you can even have a drink of champagne!

You have to wait to get the elevator back to the second floor, too. But no biggy.

As you exit the elevator at the bottom of the tower, those same men stand at the exit harassing you more and more. You just want to kick them ... you know where!

After the tower we went for dinner at French restaurant near our hotel. This place sold Crepes, mostly. I had a Crepe with ham and eggs in the middle.

BE WARNED! In France, they don't cook their eggs very well! Their Idea of fried eggs is very runny and still almost raw. Kinda like a blue rare steak. But it was still very good, and they use the best fresh cheese!!!

We retired early that night because we were going to go to Disneyland the next day! Woot!

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

One day, I would love to see Paris! I didn't realize there was such an issue with beggars & pedlers, makes for an uncomfortable situation.

[battle beast]

It sure does.

At the Louvre, I walked through the mini arc towards the entrance and some [descriptor removed] Guy (A [descriptor removed] guy, sorry) ran up to me, grabbed my finger and started braiding a wrist thingy on my hand. Then he demanded money. So I pulled out some change and he grabbed it all!

THEN he demanded I give him small bills for larger ones. When I said I didn't have any, he got mad and demanding even more!

It is kinda scary, but should not deter anyone from going!

[faline]

Interesting day. I guess all large cities are similar and prone to folks who panhandle in tourist areas of the city.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[artyboy]

We had more problems with the beggars at the base of Sacre Couer...but we didn't let it upset us too much!

Loving revisiting my favorite city through your reports!

[handmaidenofprincesses]

BE WARNED! In France, they don't cook their eggs very well! Their Idea of fried eggs is very runny and still almost raw. Kinda like a blue rare steak. But it was still very good, and they use the best fresh cheese!!!

Yea, the French have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about raw food.... one of my former teachers absolutely raved about "steak tartare"- essentially raw hamburger meat with a raw egg cracked over the top. It's a fairly popular dish, apparently.

Now, I'm half French, (my maternal grandmother's family can be traced back to the 1590's in France!) but I'm sorry, my genealogy loses on this one; My American sensibilities toward things like salmonella leave me downright queasy at the thought of undercooked food

[jillluvsdisney]

Scrambled eggs in Ireland were always very runny. I don't know if they weren't cook enough or if they had too much milk in them.