Day 2: A Paris in 2 Hours Tour and The Eiffel Tower

After a much needed good night sleep, I awoke around 9am and pitter pattered around until 10am when my mom woke up. Our Paris in 2 Hours tour was due to start at 13:00 (1pm). We wanted to make sure we gave ourselves plenty of time to get ready and eat something before leaving the house. We ate a small breakfast snack and headed out around 11:45am so that we could catch the train there. Thankfully our guide Leo sent us a photo of exactly where we’d meet and what he’d be wearing (the location was different from what was originally on Airbnb). We made it to the station in which to meet him at with no issues and with 15 minutes to spare but when we looked for the poster that was in the photo he sent we couldn’t find it. So we walked around each side of the building and nothing. When I contacted him (got on Wifi) he had sent an updated photo of the poster (which we passed) so I contacted him and asked him to wait as we would have to make our way back to that side. Leo waited and we met him within 5 minutes and there was another girl there on the tour from Vancouver, Canada.

Our tour began in front of the Opera where a then 23 year old Charles Garnier designed it and a fun fact is that a lake is under the Opera. Leo highlighted the area that we were in which was considered the “new Paris” but he said they’re still holding on to traditional values like not having buildings more than 6 stories high in the area. The 2nd floor in many of the buildings around us were occupied by the rich and the 6th floors were for maids, servants or students; either way everyone lived in the same building.

As we walked around the area we saw where ballerinas used to live and in many cases they needed to have another profession (due to not being paid enough) and that was as an escort a lot of times. We passed an area considered to be “Little London” and it’s called that because it’s one of the only areas that has a pop of color in it’s design build. We passed by Grand Lafayette which is the oldest mall and Leo said the views from the top are amazing. Some other facts we learned during our walk include:

•The Opera is famous for the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback (before he went to Notre Dame). Charles Garnier though he built the Opera because he was friends with the then emperor (and the emperor over time wasn’t favored by the public) Charles became guilty by association and had to pay to attend shows in a building he built! Legend has it that Charles always sat in seat number 5 and after he died a woman sat in that seat and a chandlier fell and she was killed…it was the ghost aka phantom of the Opera. As far as the Hunchback there was always a man underneath the Opera hanging around and people could never get a hold of him. Overtime he relocated to Notre Dame and was famously known as the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

•Boats seem to be a theme amongst buildinds as you’ll see them underneath some of the sculptures

•New Paris buildings were built in 1815

•Chopard is the oldest French perfume

•In 1910 the biggest flood destroyed half of Paris

•The Louvre went from royal homes to a prison to homes again to a museum

•Boucinis date back to 1899 and with the Olympics coming it’s hurting their business

•Madame Tussaude created the Marie Antoinette mask

We walked through one of the biggest gardens over by the Louvre Museum (Leo told us a shortcut way to get in to avoid the line for whenever we go) and there’s a straight path leading from the Louvre to the Arch of Triumph. Many of the straight pathways that we saw were so that rulers could see what was coming their way (usually in war) and so they could get to where they need to go in a straight shot. We passed by one of the smallest homes in Paris which was wedged between other homes with businesses below and even walked on the infamous “Lock Bridge” which looks nothing like it used to with all the locks because that bridge collapsed (due to…you guessed it the locks). Now there are small clusters of locks that can be seen on the bridge.

Like Leo said Paris is very walkable to where if you have the time and are up for it you can start on one side and in 15-20 minutes be in a different part. Getting around Paris has proven to be very easy thus far by walking and with public transportation. We ended the tour at the Luxor Obelisk which is the oldest monument in Paris being over 3,000 years old standing at 23 meters high with hieroglyphs on the sides. Once our tour ended we decided to make our way to our next activity the Eiffel Tower. The plan was to get there and find something to eat nearby but since we got there about 40 minutes early we opted to just go to the Eiffel Tower earlier (our tickets told us to get there 20 minutes earlier).

We already had our tickets and thankfully didn’t have to wait outside in a line because it wasn’t too crowded. We got tickets to go up to the 2nd floor (the 3rd floor (the top) was unavailable but trust me 2 was good enough). We went up on the lift and got some great city views from high up. Of course there were souvenir shops so we did a bit of shopping. Because our ticket was for 17:00 (5pm) we were there at least until it began to get dark so we had a chance to see the Eiffel Tower lit up as well (which was stunning).

By now we were really hungry and wanted a good meal. We asked Leo earlier and for good French food he recommended a place called Bouillon. We found one and hopped on the bus to get there and apparently the crowd that came after us at the bus stop appeared to be going in the same direction (we were packed like sardines on that bus). The bus however didn’t go to the end of the line (which was where we were going) so we had to get off prematurely and take the train the rest of the way there. We got there with no issues but why was there a line outside of the restaurant?

By now there were snow flurries and we waited outside at least 45 minutes and inside at least another 20 before being seated. I wish I could say the food was worth the wait but it wasn’t (which was disapointing). We ate and afterwards hopped on 2 trains to get back to our Airbnb. We arrived back in shortly after 11pm and were so happy to be inside and warm as we’ve pretty much been outside all day. I’m sure we’ll definitely get a good night sleep tonight as well…our 1st activity starts tomorrow at 10am.