Maybe if we quit our jobs and trained non stop for a year….but we’re bankers, who has time to even go to the gym?
Today, I’m writing from the rainy and cold Zurich….catching up on our last day and a half in Paris and first night in Zurich. Actually, today is day 6 but we have to pay for internet access (total scam) at the hotel so, I’m writing this all out in Word and posting them separately.
Now that all of the administrative stuff is out of the way, on to Paris….our vacation package included a “free” (but not really because we’re paying an arm and a leg for the trip), bus tour of Paris, an hour cruise on the Siene River and a pass to the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower….the Mir and J supplemental package also included Notre Dame.
Let me just tell you how much I hate touristy stuff. As a New Yorker, I’m constantly being annoyed by the tourists walking down the street looking up, blocking street corners, slowing your commute or being just plain in the way. Today, I was that dork on the bus with the head set on and on the tour boat with the glass ceiling….yes…complete dork….but definitely worth it.
The bus dropped us at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where we took the tour boat up and down the Siene River. I gotta tell you, there are A LOT of bridges in Paris and each one has a story. I got some great shots from the boat before the heavens opened up and it began to POUR like you wouldn’t believe.
We hustled to the Eiffel Tower and got some more amazing shots of the city. We did a lap around the tower, getting some panoramic pictures and left the tour early to get to Notre Dame before closing.
Now, believe it or not….we checked the map and found that our favorite train, the C line, ran directly from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame….risking another adventure like that of Versailles, we hustled to the train and made it in no time flat. Without getting lost….see, we’re not completely brain dead. 2 MBA’s can read a map and not get lost!
We got off at Notre Dame and snapped some photos of the famous rose window and on the way in, saw a sign for the Notre Dame crypt so, Mir and I decided to detour before heading into the cathedral (for once, we were slightly ahead of schedule). The crypt was an archeological dig, showing the original Roman retaining walls and the foundation of a church that preceded Notre Dame…a quick loop, some more shots and out we were into Notre Dame.
I can’t emphasize this enough…..I’ve seen it in books, seen it in pictures, read “Pillars of the Earth” and “Kingdom of Heaven”…but to be in there, looking up at the stained glass windows….while the organs played and mass was conducted (it was a Sunday)…..I found it to be one of the single most beautiful buildings I have ever been in. It really does leave you speechless….I even lit a candle for Papa in one of the small chapels and said a small prayer…and then took a picture below:
We decided not to climb the 300+ steps to the top because of: A) Fatigue and B) What more was there to see after seeing the inside?? So, we found a nice restaurant to hide from the rain and have a pleasant dinner before going to shop for souvenirs and heading back to the hotel.
By the time we were done, the weather cleared up and we decided to walk through the Latin Quarter, back to Haagen Daaz (yes, for those of you who know Mir)…we took a mini detour but found that it closed 10 mins before we got there! Dangit!
We walked back to the hotel and I got some great shots of the Louvre at night before passing out and oversleeping the next morning…..which was nothing new because we overslept every morning. Our old bodies can’t move as fast as they used to and we were walking a lot!
Which leads us to Zurich – Day ½.
The plan was to get up at 7am, breakfast by 8am, at Sacre-Coeur by opening at 9am and back at the hotel, checked out and at the train station by 12pm…ambitious, I know. How many of you think that’s how the morning actually went??? If you said yes, then you must not know us very well and aren’t our friends. HA HA. The day began as it should have, a wake up call at 7am….but I knew the plan was total crap when I saw the look on Mir’s face. She was done and the only way she was going to be able to get there, was if I carried her on my back the entire way. ….I knew she had her heart set on Sacre-Coeur…she’s been talking about it for days, but there’s always next time. It was the only major disappointment and one of only a few places we couldn’t fit into the schedule. So, we had a leisurely breakfast, slept another hour and were at the train station on time. Only to find out that our train was 50 mins late! We just can’t win!
The train ride was nice…but getting on the train was a problem. One train conductor pointed us to the opposite end of the train, telling us we were in car #3 at the front…so we hustled to the end, only to get turned around. The friggin guy meant the 3rd compartment of the first car! We hustled in, just as they closed the doors and we were on our way to Zurich. I gotta say, first class is the way to go. We had big cushy seats that reclined back at the push of a button, cup holders and even outlets to plug in the laptop. We watched as we sped through the French country side, passing through small towns and plenty of farms out in the middle of nowhere, slept, played Age of Empires on the laptop and pulled into Zurich about an hour behind schedule.
We checked in, walked to a nice restaurant a block or two away, checked out a shopping mall and came up with a plan of attack for tomorrow….walk around Zurich and meet my colleagues from Credit Suisse for dinner and drinks tomorrow night. Wednesday, we go to Lucerne.
