Paris in some out of the way places…The charm of the city continues to intrigue…

The Paris Statue of Liberty, which is the second of two replicas, is much smaller than the one in New York Harbor, USA. See the quote below for details.

An inscription at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Unbeknownst to us, we discovered that there are two replicas of the Statue of Liberty in New York’s harbor, the second of which is shown here, which we visited yesterday. See the link or quote below for details: “The first (original) statue stands in the Jardin du Luxembourg (48°50′46.9746″N 2°19′59.36″E): an information panel on the pedestal claims that it is a bronze model used by Bartholdi as part of the preparatory work for the New York statue; the artist offered it to the Luxembourg museum in 1900 and it was placed in the park in 1906.[1] The date written on this statue’s tablet (where the New York statue has “JULY IV MDCCLXXVI”) is “15 November 1889” (November 15, 1889), the date at which the larger Parisian replica was inaugurated. Pont de Grenelle This second Statue of Liberty in Paris is near the Grenelle Bridge on the Île aux Cygnes, a man-made island in the River Seine (48°51′0″N 2°16′47″E), 11.50 meters (37 feet 9 inches) high. Inaugurated on July 4, 1889, it looks southwest, downriver along the Seine. Its tablet bears two dates: “IV JUILLET 1776” (July 4, 1776: The United States Declaration of Independence) like the New York statue, and “XIV JUILLET 1789” (July 14, 1789: the storming of the Bastille). This statue is shown in the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets as one of the historic locations.”

Most tourists spend from three to five days in Paris, hitting all the major sites. If well planned this could be accomplished in a relatively short period of time if constantly being on the move wasn’t an issue.

We walked on a bridge over the train tracks with the Eiffel Tower in a distance.

Our objective is not only to see the major highlights at our own pace but to save time to familiarize ourselves with what life may be like living in this city, not that we’d ever considered living in a big city. We enjoy visiting the local shops, restaurants, and neighborhoods where Parisians live and conduct business and their lives.

A River Seine cruise ship, perhaps docked for the day to allow passengers to tour Paris.

After all, no location we ever visit, even for short periods, is beyond our realm of a longer stay sometime in the future. Although Paris is essentially too large of a metropolis for our idea of a long term stay, it’s enjoyable to imagine what life would be like.

One of the popular Viking cruise line’s river cruise.

As a result, we tend to examine life everywhere we travel with a profound sense of curiosity as opposed to constantly being enamored by the tourist-orientated surroundings, which may be difficult to ascertain by the level of our enthusiasm as we post each day.

When in crowded tourist areas, Tom carries this pen in plain view in front of him as a deterrent to pickpockets.

We try not to behave as tourists constantly asking questions of hoteliers, staff in various establishments and people on the street. Besides, each person’s taste is different and suggestions others may make may not be befitting our preferences. 

As we walked toward the more modern area of Paris, we stumbled across this modern shopping mall.

Yesterday morning, as we wrote our time-consuming post while situated in the lobby, no less than a dozen separate groups checked into the hotel with no less than a dozen already checked-in guests constantly questioning the staff at the reception desk as to where to go, what to see, how much to pay and how to get there. 

The interior of the shopping mall could have been in any city in the USA or another country. We looked at cameras in an electronic store but with the 40% taxes, including VAT, the prices were outrageous.

As I was writing, I couldn’t help but listen to the many conversations hoping to gather a morsel of information here and there that may be useful to us. Alas, I was sorely disappointed when we heard several suggestions that were contrary to the information we discovered on our own researching online sites, reading many reviews, and tailoring our events to our personal desires and preferred schedule.

The City of Light is mostly known for its historical architecture. However, many modern buildings occupy the skyline.

So far, we’ve asked three times for someone to fix the leaking ceiling in our bathroom (still leaking this morning after multiple efforts to repair it), to make a dinner reservation for us, and to get some ice when the ice machine was empty. The rest, we’ve figured out on our own. 

Unusual design in this building in the “downtown” area.

It’s not to say that the way we do it is ideal, especially for a shorter-term visit. But, we’ve learned to rely upon our own resources to discover what we want to do, how much we’re willing to pay, when we want to partake and how we will get there. It works for us.

This charming bag shop so well depicts Paris with its awning, quaint architecture, and highly-priced items.

Yes, we’re already booked to go to Versailles, The Louvre, The Cathedral of Notre Dame, a dinner cruise on the River Seine and much more, as we continue to research that which we feel is worth our time and money. But, also, we plan to walk as much of the 40 square miles of the city of Paris as our legs will allow.

Another Merry-Go-Round in the city.

Yesterday, we walked all afternoon with one major destination in mind, the Statue of Liberty which was the second statue in France from which the New York statue was based.

Six streets intersect in this interesting area of the city near the Place Charles Michels station.

We especially enjoyed the long walk from our hotel to the statue along the banks of the River Seine as illustrated in our many photos shown today that led us to the bridge and subsequent stairway that then, led us to the statue beautifully located on the river in its own, not so easily accessed spot.

A narrow one way street with minimal parking for residents of these buildings.  Driving in Paris and parking in Paris is difficult, to say the least. We feel it would be pure frustration for a visitor to rent a car with intentions of seeing the city.

As we walked along the river, we spotted a little Asian boy with his parents, squealing with delight as he pointed at us and then to the water, inviting us to come to see the treasure he’d found in the Seine, a family of Trumpeter Swans. It’s moments such as this that make our travels meaningful.

The largest of the North American waterfowl, an adorable boy invited us to see this Trumpeter Swan family on the River Seine. The babies have yet to develop the black markings on the beak. These birds mate for life in most cases. Most likely this is mom and dad with babies.

Or, the pleasure we received in chatting with the friendly shop owner at the little store next door to our hotel that chatted with us in reasonably good English, making us feel so welcomed that we stopped by the next day to simply say hello.

Under the bridge in the area of the Statue of Liberty was a workout area with multiple sturdy pieces of equipment with a soft padded floor. There were four low rock climbing walls.

A government building.

During our three to four miles walk yesterday, we found this restaurant returning at 7 pm for dinner. The food was good with prices in euros as noted on the receipt below. Our plan going forward is to post a photo of dinner receipts as we’ve done below.

The best cup of tea I’ve ever had, French Breakfast Tea, was EU $4.10, US $5.51 for one teabag, and a tiny pot of hot water. Tom’s beer was EU $8.30, US $11.14.  We both ordered the hamburger, mine without the bun. I gave Tom my fries, leaving me with a small, delicious beef patty topped with cheese, onions and tomato with a side of wild greens topped with olive oil. I ordered a side of haricot verts (green beans) but, I see we weren’t charged for them. If we maintain this price range for most of our meals, we’ve decided to try three of four finer dining establishment on other occasions. So far we’ve booked two highly rated upscale dining experiences and will continue to book one or two more, reporting back here with the menus, food photos, pricing and the décor.  It was impossible to get a seating time over the weekends when most venues were booked through Monday evening.