Year 3 Day 360 “Living the Dream”. Friday, 4/26/2024. Day 25 of 28-day European Vacation. Day 2 Massy, France. The views from our seventh-floor corner room windows of the Hilton Garden Inn in Massy, France are great. There was a window facing each side. We saw how people use their balconies as their yards. When we walked to the elevator, we were treated to a wall of glass which overlooked the trains coming and going into Paris.
The streets are quiet outside of the hotel this morning. I think everyone in France or maybe all of Europe are on a later schedule then us. I love the quiet of the morning and not the mobbed evening. We are making our way to Paris today and will be taking a Seine dinner cruise we booked through Viator. Getting there should be an experience. We bought our train tickets in the morning. They were five euros each. After purchasing the tickets, we walked around and explored Massy. We passed the Safran Headquarters campus. Safran is the world’s second largest Aircraft equipment manufacturer. This company employs 92,000 employees in 276 locations.
We ate lunch at Mamas Kitchen before we headed to Paris. The restaurant was packed at noon. We decided that since restaurants close at 2:30pm and reopen at 6:30pm that people rush out at noon time to eat. We had pizza and a calzone. OMG, we split the calzone and to my surprise egg yolks came flowing out of mine. Nope – can’t eat it.
Walking around the streets of Massy you see many people eating long loaves of bread. I have never seen that before. Oh, my favorite food since I have been in France is the croissant. I love love love them. They are not buttery like I have had in the United States. They are airy, flaky and just melt in your mouth. I am so in love with them for breakfast with a slice of fresh cheese. From what I understand towards the end of the 19th century, French bakers replaced the brioche dough with puff pastry. The train to Champ de Mars was definitely not as smooth or nice as yesterday’s Bullet train. It is more of a city subway train.
Paris is just one huge city, but we did get to see the Eiffel Tower and sit at a street cafe. The Eiffel Tower was erected for the 1889 Universal Exposition and overlooks the city from the Champ-de-Mars. Its height is 330 meters.
Vendors had their wares set up on blankets on the sidewalk in front of the Eiffel tower. When any police came, they would do a mad dash gathering their stuff up and running away. Then when the coast was clear they reappeared.
There were bikes available to rent, use, and then drop off anywhere when you were done.
We paid 15 euros for a coffee and a small soda at a sidewalk cafe. These are city prices for sure. This city has a tremendous number of tourists and very few bathrooms. Look at this men’s urinal. You open the door which barely closes behind you and urinate against a cement wall. The urine then flows down the cement wall and falls into a grate below your feet. Everyone walking down the street can see men standing behind the doors urinating. Dolores, you are not in the United States any long.
We spent hours walking around, taking pictures, and just staring in awe like a tourist.
In the evening, we did a Seine River dinner cruise from the Ile aux Cygnes, in the middle of the Bir-Hakeim Bridge. The L’Ile Aux Cygnes is a narrow artificial island, about ten meters wide and nearly a kilometer long. It is located between the Grenelle and Bir-Hakeim bridges. It was created in 1825 and is adorned with a few hundred trees loaded with birds. One pooped on my phone and another pooped on a passenger’s head while waiting to board. This island is famous for its 16-meter replica of the Statue of Liberty, located at the southern tip.
Read more about Paris en Scene 3 Course Seine River Dinner Cruise here – https://www.viator.com/…/Bistr…/d479-6557DINNERCRUISE… Our boat departed at 7:30pm. The food was ok. A really salty entree of rice, veal, and vegies. They played music the whole time. I would have liked a little commentary. They had a photographer that came around and took pictures. They later came back with them printed to sell to you. They also served alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages drinks for extra money. The meal came with a bottle of Evian water. The sights were amazing. I have never seen such huge buildings. They were blocks long. We passed by the Eiffel Tower, Pont Alexandre III, Grand Palais, Musee d’Orsay, Cathedrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Cite de la Mode Et du Design, Ile de la Cite / Ile Saint-Louis, Louvre Museum, Place de la Concorde, and Statue de la Liberte. A lot of people were sitting and waving along the shoreline for a large part of the trip.
We saw the Eiffel tower at night sparkling after the dinner Cruise and someone proposing. We had no idea that Every evening, the Eiffel Tower adorns itself in gold and sparkles the first five minutes of every hour, while the beacon shines across Paris. Whether you’re visiting the Tower or walking nearby the monument at night, it’s something I am glad we saw. It was very magical! The Eiffel Tower’s lights at night are made up of three components: the golden lighting, the sparkles and the beacon. The spotlights in the golden lightings system take about ten minutes to turn on at nightfall using sensors.
We missed the last direct subway/train back to Massy. So, we Ubered back to our hotel in Massy. It was a very scary trip. YIKES – we were traveling at 138 km per hour on very congested roads and the driver did not understand anything we said. I was so happy to get out of that car. Whew, I felt like kissing the ground/sidewalk when I stepped out of the car.
Things to ponder today! Have to leave you thinking.
Wired Headphones: Here’s a link to today’s Amazon recommendation: https://amzn.to/4cgBHqH I find that keeping a few pairs of inexpensive headphones in our luggage works great. Here’s a great little pair that has come in handy for traveling.
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To view the complete daily diary, click here – This starts at Year 1 Day 1: Living the Dream – Deestimes – Make every step of the journey count