| Aug 5, 2007 - Paris
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 | | The Eifel Tower | | part of the fake beach along the Seine | | typical French breakfast, mmm |
| I arrived in Paris yesterday after a quick trip on the brand-new high-speed TGV train, only about 3.5 hours from Colmar to Paris (this same trip on the old trains took over 5 hours). The train was slick, modern and super smooth. I had to do laundry again after getting here as a guy on the train spilled a cup of coffee on my freshly cleaned shorts. When you travel light with only a few changes of clothes, this is a pain. It could have been worse; in the front of the train compartment, a little kid puked all over a couple of people. I`d rather have coffee than puke all over me anyday. I spent the evening walking down to Notre Dame just as the sun was setting and it was bathed in a golden light. It almost looked magical, too bad I didn't have my camera on me. Today I had the day free so walked to the Eifel Tower for the obligatory tourist shot. Every summer they bring in truckloads of sand, potted palms and lawn chairs for a pseudo 'beach' along the Seine River in central Paris. I had heard of this but never actually seen it. It was kind of bizarre, but the locals seem to love it. The streets all along the river are closed off to traffic every Sunday and there were rollerbladers, bikers and joggers galore.
I met the lead guide last night for dinner. Her name is Sabine, she`s French but lived in Seattle for many years and speaks great English. I had seen her on one of Ricks Travel shows but never met her. We had a nice dinner and really hit if off, but I noticed she looked a little run-down. This morning at breakfast she looked terrible but insisted she was fine. We decided to meet at 4:00, an hour before meeting the tour members so I had the day off. I got back around 3:00 to find a note from Sabine and a message from work saying I needed to call them about an emergency. Evidently, Sabine collapsed and the hotel called an ambulance. She is back at the hotel and feeling better, I am not sure exactly what is wrong, but she will not be doing the tour. The office found a replacement guide who will arrive tomorrow.
This meant that I had to do the Introductory meeting, neighborhood walk and dinner myself, yikes! I had less than 2 hours to prepare. I think I pulled it off ok, but the neighborhood walk was pretty lame. Ive been to this area before but don't know any of the history or little facts about it. A few of the people seemed a little pinched, but most everyone was pretty understanding. the good news is that it seems like a good group of people. Talk about being put in the hot seat! I will meet the replacement guide tomorrow and hopefully the rest of the tour will go off without a hitch.
Paris Part deux
This morning I was a bit panicked as we were scheduled to leave the hotel at 8:30 for our first day touring the major sites but the new guide hadn't showed up yet. People kept asking me where he was and when we would be leaving, of course I had no idea. Luckily he showed up a few minutes later and we set off on our first day. He seems like a great guy and is very knowledgeable, but hasn't led a tour in awhile so is counting on me to help him out more than normal. I will be making all the hotel room arrangements, confirming the restuarants and placing the menu orders as well as running around doing various errands. Not exactly like the tour I assisted on last summer where the guide did everything himself, but thats ok. I certainly won't be bored. It poured down rain all day and everyone was soaked. Not the best day to do a walking tour of the city. It was a long day and I am beat. We leave tomorrow morning at the crack o'dawn for the Loire Valley so I need to crash. But first some good news, a special thanks to Sara Newman for finding me a place online to order a laptop battery charger. I ordered it Friday and it arrived at the hotel today. This means I can now use my laptop! Thanks Sara! You truly are more precious than a dewdrop in the desert. |
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