Portland has light rail. And it’s great. If you want to go to Hillsboro or Gresham. Getting around the city itself is done easily by bike. Paris on the other hand has an amazing subway system. It’s cheap, efficient, and really fast. And on top of that the bicycle infrastructure is incredible. The traffic signals are at eye level and are shaped like bicycles. The bike lanes are part of the sidewalks. There is an extensive bike sharing system in place that is widely used. Paris has it figured out, and rightfully so. It’s a city of 2 million people.
Like all good tourists to Paris we made our way to the tower. It’s pretty damn impressive. It looms over the city and it’s not even that tall. But Paris isn’t filled with giant skyscrapers. Most buildings are 6 stories or less so the Eiffel Tower can be seen from many points in the city.
One thing to count on is scaffolding. Anything that you want to see is going to be covered in scaffolding. If it’s old it’s going to need constant maintenance.
Turn down a random street. Find cool shops.
We’ve been to a lot of churches recently. Churches in Rome are largely Byzantine, whereas Paris is from a more medieval time. Notre Dame is probably the pinnacle of scary ass churches. Dark and extremely humbling. While it’s just as large as the surrounding buildings from the outside, it’s really quite breathtaking once you’re inside. The vaulted ceilings, the stain glass windows. All very impressive.
Charlemagne sits on his horse outside. That is one hell of a mustache. About ten minutes after this picture we bought some sandwiches from a little shop down the street where the proprietor complemented me on my own mustache. Not bad…
