Day 2: A day of walking

Ug. I woke up at 3am sharp and couldn't fall back asleep. Today turned out to be a big day.

The hotel Novotel Eiffel Tower where I stayed had a workout facility so I decided to commit to working out. Apparently, Americans are generally bigger in every physical aspect. There were no overweight people in the gym, they were all relatively fit. However, I was the biggest muscled person there which felt weird as I am towards the bottom in the weight rooms at the 24 hr fitnesses back home. The personal trainer there had a bit of an unfamiliar physique, muscled and lean, but in strange proportions. He kept looking over at me during my workout which felt a bit strange. 

On the way to Citroen Park

After working out, I showered and hit the streets. Ended up going to Citroen Park today on a recommendation from one of the locals I met at the pub yesterday. What a terrific park. Full of different gardens and landscaping carved into little coves and secluded from one another. It was a little like visiting 30 small parks all in the same area. In the center of the park there was a giant fifty foot helium balloon tethered to a cable that would take up to thirty or so paying customers up and down  throughout the day. It was in honor of the inventors of the balloon, Jacques Charles and the Robert brothers, back in the 1783. Apparently Benjamin Franklin was present to witness the maiden flight of the first balloon. 

Despite the kickboxing going on, an otherwise peaceful spot in the park. I thought I took pics of the big Eutelsat balloon but couldn't find them.

I ended up actually taking a lot of video to edit together a movie later, and took many pictures with me in them for a change. I've learned that all the landscape and building pics I have taken over the years are boring and get tossed. Plus I realized that one can easily find many better ones on the Internet. 

 

Popping out of the tube at Champs Elysees

From there I headed to the Champs Elysees. Turns out that I lucked out and there was the biggest Christmas street market that I have ever seen running most of the way to the Arc de Triomphe. It must have been at least a mile long running on both sides of the street. I ended up doing some Xmas shopping there, getting a backpack full of yummy local sausages which I had the privilege of sampling. Stopped for a salted caramel crepe and a hot cider. That's a new winning combination for me! I could have hit repeat on that scenario a few more times, but did not want to be a glutton. Or at least not more than I have already been here. 

A nice wedding shoot on the bridge heading away from the Grand Palace

Wish I could have taken a better picture of this. The kind of sky that inspires a painter.

The Grand Palace in the background

After walking the full length of the market up and back, I headed off past the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. Many things here are simply larger than life, that being one of them. I would have liked going inside, but there was a special exhibition event going on with a monstrous queue, so I moved on across the Seine to the L'Hôtel national des Invalides. Another massive and amazing structure. Napoleon built it to house all the cripples and healing soldiers from the wars. Surrounded by lovely park space and housing many examples of cannons from over the eons, and the world's first "modern" tank from 1918, the Renault FT-17. Around the corner was Napoleon's tomb in the Dôme des Invalides. Yet another unbelievable building. I was curious if it was bigger than one or all of the pyramids and reflected on their similar functions. I looked it up after getting home and apparently the Great Pyramid of Giza is 139m vs the dome at 107m, but the dome is certainly larger than the lesser pyramids at Giza. It still strikes me as remarkable that a person could be so important to a society that they dedicate so many resources to house some old bones for eternity.

Tank shown for scale

Finished with the Invalides, I decided to walk all the way back to the hotel instead of taking the subway. I thought I might discover some gems on the way,and thought it would be an excuse to check out the Eiffel again. When I was done hanging out at the tower, I walked underneath to head along the Rive Gauche, the left hand side of the Sienne, looking to see if there was an affordable eating opportunity on one of the river boats. I didn't find one that was affordable, but did find one that was converted to a special farmers market for the holidays. I decided to check it out and got a bit tipsy trying out some spirits distilled in the Gascogne region. Always an appreciated sales approach. So I bought a couple of bottles for gifts. Floc de Gascogne, floc meaning flower from their local dialect, which is a mildly sweet apartif served chilled. Very tasty, and I will be surprised if the bottle lasts 15 minutes after opening.  The other was an armagnac. It's a smoother version of a bourbon. I picked that up for John and David since they are such fans of bourbons and whiskeys. 

Many of the streets throughout the city were decorated for the holidays

On the way to Rue de Commerce.The top looks like it translates to Happy Fetus.

Inside Le Cafe du Commerce

Making the other patrons give me odd looks while I took a series of pictures trying to get one to turn out.

Freshened up at the hotel and having a few rum and cokes in me, I headed out for dinner at Le Cafe du Commerce. I ordered the rotisserie orange duck. I could  have been tired and buzzed from the drinks, but I am sure that was the best meal of my life. I felt euphoric and had such an ethereal experience, I got a little choked up.  Over food. That was a first, but wow was I happy. I ended it with a dessert called "la baba de la commerce" which was a sponge cake baked with a creme broulee/toffee type crust, topped with hand made whipped cream, and a full bottle of rum to douse over the top at my own will. It just kept getting better.

Some random radio tower I thought looked interesting.