Spain > Walking back to the hotel

Spain - Centre Pompidou

Early at breakfast, because today Paris is on the agenda. After breakfast, we take the metro toward the city center. At Bastille, we get off and walk toward the Centre Georges Pompidou. At Place Georges Pompidou near the museum, we sit at a terrace for a cup of coffee. At the Centre Pompidou, we want to go up via the escalators, but this turns out to be possible only in combination with a museum visit. Well, then we won’t. From the Centre Pompidou, we continue walking toward Notre Dame. At Place de la Concorde, we pause briefly in a park. Fred tries out his sailing skills on a small sailboat in the Tuileries pond. Passing the large obelisk at Place de la Concorde, we walk toward the Champs-Élysées. We take the metro for a short distance so we don’t have to walk the entire avenue. Near the Arc de Triomphe, we order a sandwich at a restaurant. A minor quarrel almost breaks out between the supporters and opponents of visiting McDonald’s, but the alternative is satisfactory. Through the Diamond District, we walk toward the Seine. Along the way, we stop to look at a few windows of expensive clothing stores. At the Seine, the Eiffel Tower comes into view, our next destination. At the river, the group splits. One part prefers to take the metro to the Eiffel Tower, while I walk with the rest. We meet again right under the Eiffel Tower. Walking proves fastest. The line to visit the Eiffel Tower is enormous. Once again, we split up. Marco and Fred do not want to wait and decide not to go. They go ahead to look for Café le Port d’Amsterdam, a café run by Dutch people and recommended by Fred’s colleague. Mirjam stays below, waiting, as she has a fear of heights. I join the rest of the group in the line for the visit. After about half an hour, we take the elevator to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. From here, I already have a beautiful view over Paris.

Spain - The ChampsElysees

I then join a second line for the lift to the top. After a while, I reach the elevator and ascend to 300 meters. Paris looks very small from this height. Slowly, dusk begins to fall, creating a beautiful effect. Back on the second platform, the lights are turned on. The Eiffel Tower is beautifully illuminated at night. We decide to walk down the stairs to the first floor. Walking through the pillars, we have a good view of the construction, though the bright lights occasionally dazzle me. On the first platform, we look for a staircase down but cannot find one. Just as we are about to give up, the fourth and final pillar has a staircase open. Back on the ground, it is completely dark. Mirjam has been waiting for us all the while. We walk through the park toward a place where we see lights and hear music. It turns out to be a performance. We have agreed to meet at Café le Port d’Amsterdam. We search for a metro station. A helpful homeless man points us toward the Seine, but there is no metro there. In hindsight, it was not the right direction, although you will eventually find a station if you keep walking. We return, take the metro, and head toward Café le Port d’Amsterdam. Fred and Marco are already having drinks and have met the owners. We join them. At the café, we also have dinner, after which the drinks continue. As the evening progresses, the café gets busier. Tables are moved aside, benches are covered, and the place fills up, especially when an international group on a pub crawl arrives. We party in the café until around two o’clock. Mirjam and Raymond had returned to the hotel earlier, which was smart because after two, there are no more metro trains. At the taxi stand, there is a very long line; all taxis are occupied. We decide to walk toward the Seine to flag down a taxi, but again none are available. At every corner, people are looking for a taxi. This is not working. We follow the Seine toward our hotel. Along the way, we manage to stop a taxi returning from a ride. Unfortunately, this plan quickly fails when the roadway is divided by a guardrail; taxis cannot stop. We have no idea how far the hotel is, though it must be inside the ring.

Spain - The Eiffel Tower at night

After about an hour of walking, we leave the simplified map of central Paris behind. We just keep following the river. One thing is certain: we will eventually find the hotel; we just don’t know when. Around a quarter past four, a taxi stops. He can take all six of us at once. When we indicate our destination, he waves us off, gets into his taxi, and drives away, leaving us bewildered. We have no choice but to keep walking. It turns out we were nearby. Around a quarter past four, the hotel comes into view. Exactly at half past four, I am back in my room and can get into bed for a short night.