After our late night at The Crazy Horse Saloon burlesque show we slept in on Tuesday morning, went down the street to a little café for a late breakfast then back to the hotel to do a little computer work. Around noon we headed out for the Eiffel Tower. We did not intend to go up in the lift, just view it from the ground. It is enormous and we got some good shots under it. At one point I had the bear under my arm and was taking a picture straight up in the air. Leea told me that while I was doing this, some fellow stepped out of line and took a picture of me with my purple hair and bear taking a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Funny.
We stopped for lunch on our way back to the metro. Leea had a delicious pizza which I helped her eat and I had a yummy omelet. While we were eating we watched the police chase and arrest one of what we called the “lookey, lookey” guys. These are refuges from the Canary Islands who have come to Europe to try to survive. They sell trinkets along the beaches and at tourist stops. John and I saw them three years ago when we were in Spain. It is hard for them to make a living, but they seem a lot more organized now than they did three years earlier, and they seem to have spread out over Europe. With the economy in Europe in bad shape, they are probably a little more of an irritant.
In Spain the “lookey, lookey guys” seem to coexist with the established businesses. In Barcelona we saw the police come upon a bevy of these fellows set up by the beach. The police just slowly moved toward them so they picked up their goods and scattered. The police were clearly not trying to arrest anyone. In Paris, though the police on bicycles chased two guys, caught one and called a car to take him away. In Spain these fellows come in restaurants and sell their goods. In Paris I never saw any of them approach a restaurant.
In Spain we also saw a lot of graffiti. I love graffiti. It’s not the scribbly tags that are like dogs marking their territory with urine, but the graffiti that is colorful and well executed. To me, like roadside memorials it is a free expression. These artists are not thinking of selling their work or showing in galleries, though some artists who began as graffiti artists are doing just that now. Anyway, in Spain graffiti is not wiped out or worried about as it is here and I think it actually makes the country more colorful. It is just a different kind of public art. I didn’t see any graffiti in Paris, so I don’t know what their attitude is about this art form.
After lunch we jumped on the metro and went to see the famous Moulin Rouge. We took pictures of the famous windmill and jumped back on the metro. Our destination was the Sacre-Coeur. There is some controversy as to why it was built. Some say it was to atone for the sins of the communards during the French Revolution, but the more accepted reason given now is that it is dedicated to the 58,000 who lost their lives in the Franco Prussian War. Masses are still said daily for those soldiers. It sits at the highest point in Paris on the hill of Montmartre and is visible from almost any place in Paris. Since it sits at the very top of the hill, you can get great views of Paris and even better when you climb the dome of the basilica. When we arrived there were crowds and a party atmosphere. It is one of the places in Paris where crowds gather to see street artists and listen to musicians. We took the tram up about 50 feet to the base of the basilica, only to find out there was no lift up to the dome. We stood at the entrance and Leea asked, “Do you really want to do this?” What response did she expect? Of course, I want to do this insane thing. I didn’t know at the time that what she was actually saying is that she wasn’t sure she wanted to do it. Anyway up we went. It was very narrow, barely big enough for each of us to get through. It definitely would not have allowed even a slightly heavy person to get through. And it was like straight up. Like everyone else, we had to stop a couple of times and catch our breath. But once we reached the top, the views were extraordinary. We walked around the dome and all of Paris lay at our feet.
Well the trip down was a little less strenuous.
We were both surprised the next day that we were not sore. I guess all the walking we had done this summer had left us in better shape than we imagined. We didn’t see many obese or even fat people in Spain or Paris. I believe it is because they walk and use public transportation. Even taking the metro you have to walk to the metro station then up and down stairs to get to the correct platform or connecting train. There is a great deal of exercise involved in getting around. It would be very difficult to do if you were seriously overweight. It’s not like driving you want to go and walking twenty feet to your destination.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped by The Crazy Horse Saloon because Leea wanted to get a tee shirt like mine. Then we went home planning to have our last dinner in Paris at our favorite sushi restaurant only to discover that they were closed for vacation. I guess that happens a lot in Paris in August. We were so disappointed. But we found a little café on the corner and had a delicious dinner.
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