Paris, 1998

By Jack Welsch



Images © Copyright 1998, J. H. Welsch
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Synopsis

This was one of my rare solo European trips and it was primarily business. After visiting companies in Belgium, Netherlands and Germany, I flew to Paris to meet with our distributor there. To get the best air fare, I was stuck in Paris until Sunday morning. Poor me, Saturday in Paris with nothing to do but enjoy myself! I love to walk but I really over-extended myself. I was staying at Hôtel d'Angleterre, a delightful small hotel in St. Germain-de-Pres. On Saturday morning, I walked across le Pont des Artes to the Louvre (which I skipped), through the Tuillerie Gardens. There I got some really great photos of l' Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel. This much smaller then the much better known Arc de Triomphe but, in my humble opinion, is much more beautiful. If you stand near the Louvre, you can see through it, past the Obelisk of Luxor, through the Arc de Triomphe (the famous one) and on to the huge Grande Arche de la Defense.

From there I made my way to the Eiffel tower and spent several hours exploring it. Linda's afraid if heights so when I've been in Paris with her, I've not wanted to strand her on the ground while I explored it so this was my chance. When I eventually made my way down, I went to les Invalides to see the tomb of Napoleon, and then to l'Ecole Militaire before crossing the magnificent Pont Alexandre III. By the time I got back to Place de la Concorde, my feet were hurting so badly I could hardly walk. I sat for a while on a bench in the Tuilerie Gardens until I thought maybe I'd recovered enough to walk back "home". One step was all it took to convince me my walking was done. I was barely able to make it to a taxi stand! Even with a nap and a warm bath, my feet were still killing me at dinner time. With so many great places to eat in Paris, I certainly didn't want to go to the same place twice but, I'd had a great meal two doors from the hotel at a small restaurant called (I think) La Boeuf à la Table and I couldn't bear the thought of going further. Had another great meal and a nice conversation with the owner.

Man, do I love Paris!