Today was a free day of sorts but we had a few loose ends we wanted to tie up so was quite a busy one. We walked a massive 13km in total to make it 98.5km for the whole trip. We'll crack the 100km mark tomorrow before we catch a train out to the airport.
We had a bit of a late start after getting to bed after midnight following the Loire Valley day trip and we took the opportunity to phone home one last time before we're out of contact during our flights home. Emily started crying because she missed us which made Teneille cry. The fact the kids have done so well without us is testament to my sister and everyone else who has helped looked after them in our absence.
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| Remember that time I was crowned king of France? |
With tears dried we set off for Palais Garnier (the opera house) to explore what we missed out on the other day. We got there at 12:29pm to find out they were closing to the public at 12:30pm to set up for a performance that night. We'll return tomorrow and go for third time lucky.
We passed a street called Rue de Balzac which had Cafe Balzac on the corner. Teneille couldn't contain her fits of giggles at the thought of a ball sack cafe. She was still laughing to herself two blocks later. We saw a Michael Jackson shop as well which grabbed Teneille's attention.
Missing out on the opera house again wasn't too much of a hassle as it was on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. We did the arc on our first day in Paris but wanted to walk the Champs Elysses again. We stopped in at the Disney store again but it was packed being a Sunday so we made good our escape and continued on. We were heading to Invalides which meant we crossed the Alexander III bridge. On our way we passed between the Grand Palais and Petit Palais which are right across the road from each other. Grand Palais might be bigger but Petit Palais' entrance shits all over its big brother's.
We got into Invalides without any crowd issues despite it being a weekend. For those not familiar with this building it was essentially a giant hospital/care centre built by Napoleon to look after soldiers returning from war. Those who recovered but couldn't return to war were sent to work in the catacombs while those unable to recover were looked after at Invalides. These days, Invalides is split into two sections - a war museum and Napoleon's tomb. Most important French people are in the Pantheon crypt but Napoleon gets his own special place.
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| Invalides from the front. |
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| Invalides from within. |
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| Napoleon's tomb under the dome. |
We visited the tomb first under the Invalides dome. If the French know how to do one thing very well... it's domes. After that, we hit the war museum which includes full suits of armour for men and horses as well as hundreds of guns and swords and bows and arrows. Some of the suits of armour belonged to French kings and you could see dents and holes where they'd been struck in battle. One breast plate we saw had a huge hole in the front and the back. Apparently, the person wearing it had been hit with a cannon ball. A cannon ball that went in one side and out the other. Ouch!
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| Cannon balls... they hurt. |
I basically walked through the rooms of suits of armour chanting "Treguna Mekoides Tracorum Satis Dee" in low tones that echoed around the halls. If that, coupled with the name of today's blog, doesn't mean anything to you then you're dead to me. Google it. Seriously, people. Sadly, none of the armour came to life thus allowing me to raise an army and take Paris as my own.
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| This was Napoleon's horse. Like, his actual horse. It was stuffed and stored at the Louvre before being released to Invalides so he could be near his master once more. |
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| Horses had to be be bloody strong. |
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| Someone thought big of themselves. |
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| Teneille riding a cannon just because. |
From Invalides we headed back up the Seine to Pont Neuf where we had dinner. We did a Seine cruise our first day in Paris but wanted to do another one at night before we left and this was where the boats left from. Teneille, in another bizarre case of wanting to climb things, wanted a picture of herself standing on the bridge. While I was trying to take the photo I accidentally stepped in front of a cyclist riding on the footpath. I apologised for not watching where I was going while she rolled her eyes and huffed off. An elderly couple walking in the opposite direction saw the cyclist sassing me and absolutely gave it to her with both barrels. I don't know what they said but imagine it had something to do with this woman riding on the footpath and having the audacity to give me attitude when she should have been on the bloody road instead.
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| I tried to talk her out of this. |
The cruise was pretty packed but we were front of the line so got decent seats. This was the last time Teneille will see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night so she was a little sad about that. But, honestly, every time she lays eyes on the tower her face brightens. It's gorgeous to watch. That alone has been worth getting her here.
We essentially have tomorrow in Paris too as our flight isn't until 10pm so we'll pack in the morning and go for one last wander before catching a train to the airport.
More observations from Teneille:
Fat people. Paris has none. And I have to agree - we haven't seen a single fat person since we arrived. I don't know what France's obesity rate is but going on what we've seen in Paris it can't be massive like Australia's is.
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