Paris Diary: Thursday, here and there.

For some unknown reason, the transit strike didn't happen. I never saw any mention on the news but my limited French skills might have caused me to miss it. Great! Let the sightseeing continue!

First order of business for today was to check email. We thought we'd hear the gender of our first grandchild today but not yet.

Alice needed a bit of extra rest so I ended up doing lunch on my own. Just another café on Kleber. There are a half dozen or more within a couple of blocks of the hotel. A nice leisurely lunch with a carafe of wine, then finish up with a little espresso. Ah... what a life! :)

Sightseeing today started out with the Musée Rodin, next to Les Invalides. Rodin's works are amazing. Everybody knows The Thinker and most know The Kiss. The Gates of Hell is ... disturbing. Lots of other works displayed here.

After the sculpture garden and museum, Alice needed a quick bite then we took the subway to Pont de l'Alma, famous now as the place where Princess Diana died.

There we took a Bateaux Mouches sightseeing ride on the Seine. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours or so.


From Pont de l'Alma down the Seine past the Grand and Petit Palais, Place de la Concorde, Jardin des Tuileries, Louvre and Orsay museums, Notre Dame, a loop around Ile de la Cité and Ile St Louis. Then back past the same stuff and on to the Tour Eiffel and on to the miniature Statue of Liberty.

Got a huge number of good pictures on this little float.

Final sightseeing item for the day was to go up the Eiffel Tower. Alice doesn't do heights very well so I was a little surprised that she'd do it. Yes, she is gritting her teeth in that picture!

We took a cab from there to the Champs Elysée to find dinner. I had a half memory of an Asian place recommended in one of the guide books we had along but didn't have the guide book or a good enough memory. We ended up in a place that had good food but I think we were the only people over 30 in the place. Then a nightcap of ice cream and espresso at one of the cafés by the hotel.