The booksellers shops on the Left Bank of Paris

never been to Paris or the left bank, the booksellers’ stalls are metal and attached to the stone wall that overlooks the Seine.  They sort of reminded me of giant Coleman stoves – you know how they fold down into a neat rectangle that makes them easy to take camping, and then when you get to your destination and you’re ready to cook, you just unfold them?  That’s the idea only on a grander scale. (When folded up, the stalls can be locked, and I assume the owners just leave everything inside so they don’t have to cart it back and forth.

We wandered around, looking at what was for sale.  In addition to books we saw posters, stamps, videos, souvenirs, and collectibles.  In fact, we ran across a man selling old newspaper advertisements for products featuring TinTin, which is a character in a series of books, and soon to be a movie by Steven Spielburg.

Altough these are only replicas, they make a nice addition to Alain’s growing collection!  For me, the only thing missing was the accordion music playing “La Vie en Rose” – although there were a group of 20 somethings doing some drumming close to us, and they had a good beat going!

After walking around the left bank, we stopped to get a drink, and then walked across the bridge to see Notre Dame…

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Looking up at the Eiffel Tower

Paris was fabulous… It truly is the city of my heart – and we had an absolutely fabulous time!  Of course the first place we went was to see the Eiffel tower.  Friday night we drove through Paris – we went to the Musee d’Homme – which is closed for rennovation right now – so we could get a fabulous shot of the Eiffel tower by night.

By the way, did you know that the Eiffel Tower at night is considered a copyright image – and it’s owned by the state.  To use it, you have to get permission from the government – unless it’s part of a landscape shot where it’s just part of the scene.  Fascinating, don’t ya think?

So this photo was taken on our first full day of playing tourist. We were staying in the 14th arrondissement, and so we took the subway bright and early from there – there’s a stop very close to the Eiffel Tower, and the walk is pleasant (if crowded.)  We were told several times as several different places – the Eiffel tower, Versailles, Notre Dame – that Paris was “practically deserted” and there were hardly any tourists at all – compared to “normal” days… but it still seemed pretty crowded to me! (Especially when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower and saw the crowd of people standing in line – first to buy tickets, then to take the elevators to the second level of the tower… It was a

People in Line to Buy Tickets to Go Up in the Eiffel Tower

good two and a half hour wait for most people!

Luckily, we were whisked right to the front of the line, almost as soon as we got there, although there was probably a twenty minute wait for the elevator, and things got a little crowded there too. Still, it was such fun listening to all the different accents… Italian, American, Japanese, Russian…even French. And something that I noticed on this trip was that the restaurants, sidewalk cafes and tourist attractions were always full, with lots of people.  So if there’s a recession going on, someone forgot to tell Paris about it!

We took lots of photos of Paris from the Eiffel Tower – on the second level, and then from the third level – where you have to buy separate tickets again in order to go up to the third level!  Still… Eiffel tower… So worth it! Anyway, you can see what I mean about the lines from this photo… Alain snapped it from where we were at the ticket booth… And you can’t even see the end of the line or where the people stop… It was actually pretty impressive for a “slow, end of tourist season” day… And I don’t think I ever want to try to go to the tower in high tourist season!

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