by Tony Santos

Created on: October 31, 2007   Last Updated: November 24, 2008

Mietsie, my sometimes Belgian girlfriend, begged me to go with her to Paris while I was on the continent. I was taking the summer off my sailboat while it stayed back in Guatemala (during hurricane season, naturally) and decided to spend a good chunk of it in Europe. Though I'd been to Paris many times before, I can never resist to go again.

We grabbed an obscenely early morning train to Brussels, and then the high-speed Thalys train from there to Paris. We arrived early enough for breakfast. After checking into the hotel, we ventured out. We bopped around town, found a cafe to people watch from, and laid low. We took the metro down to Centre Pompidou, where we hung around a bit. Then, Mietsie had this idea to have an incredible French dining experience, at PIZZA HUT, of all places.

After dinner, the idea was to go back to the hotel, freshen up and head out somewhere fun for the night. But once we got back to the room, we ended up crashing. I guess the early morning departure from Belgium took its toll on us. The next day, we headed over to the Eiffel Tower. Despite the fact that Mietsie had been to Paris before, she had never been up the Eiffel Tower. Unbelievable. So even though I had already been there, done that, and gotten the t-shirt, I obliged.

Being that it was the thick of the summer tourist season, and that the Eiffel tower has this uncanny way of attracting, oh I don't know, every tourist in Paris, the place was packed. There were lines a mile long for each of the two running elevators. We thought we found the shorter line of them, but it ended up being for the access up the first floor of the tower via the stairs only. Well, we were already in the line, and it was moving pretty quick. So we stayed with it. The climb up wasn't all that bad to the first level. Once there, we were able to walk around, enjoy some of the view and have a coke. Then, for a couple more euros, you can buy your way to the top via the elevator. Lucky for us, the weather was awesome. The view was spectacular. That view can humble and awe-strike even the crustiest, sullen, and jaded traveler, no doubt about it.

Later, we walked up to the Jardin des Tuileries. We had some snacks, and lazed around in the park. You gotta hand it to the French, they have made lazing in the park on afternoons an art form. Mietsie had this burning urge to go to Rue de Rivoli, where all the "beaucoup-bucks" stores are. We did that for awhile, gawking at horrendously overpriced stuff. This place was worse

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