In my room, which was very tiny and sloped uphill, I put my things down and started getting ready for bed. The room was clean and cute, and I was ready for a good night’s sleep.
On Thursday morning, I got cleaned up and dressed, and ate breakfast downstairs in he hotel. Croissant, coffee, cereal. After breakfast, I went to the Louvre. It was shockingly huge – More than you can imagine until you see it. I knew I would not be spending long there, considering I had a lot more of Paris to see in the next two days. The pyramid was amazing, surrounded by fountains in the courtyard, and the inside of the museum was beautiful, as you might imagine. I found ‘Winged Victory,’ the ‘Mona Lisa’ and the ‘Venus de Milo’ during my two hours there, and saw brilliant, gigantic Italian paintings, old gothic religious paintings, sculptures, jeweled crowns, ancient furniture and other enormous rooms filled with art. I went to the gardens to have a look around and caught my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Tiny, because it was so far away, but no less amazing from afar.
I headed out of the Louvre and to the waterfront of the River Seine. I walked along the river to Cite, the origins of the city of Paris. It is on this island I visited La Conciergerie (the prison where Marie Antoinette was held prior to her execution) and Sainte-Chapelle, with its tall, gorgeous stained-glass windows.
After my visit to both, I crossed the bridge to the ‘left bank’ to Place St-Michel. A busy square crowded with students and business folks for lunchtime, I went past and to the streets beyond for my lunch destination. Allard is an authentic bistro with classic French dishes. The original 1930s ambience was charming and provided the perfect environment to enjoy my first ever escargot, a delicious lamb stew with potatoes and the most wonderful dessert ever – tarte tatin, which is upside-down caramelized apple tart that’s served with clotted cream. It was maybe the best meal I’ve ever eaten.
With a full stomach, I headed back to Cite to see Notre Dame. Although the outside was amazing, the towers were even better. The line for the towers was preposterous – about 45 minutes. There was a lovely surprise waiting for me at the end of the line, too. No lift to the top! Only my two feet to take me up to the top of the 386 steps. I made it to the top, out of breath and nearly breaking a sweat, and immediately noted that the wait and the hike up were worthwhile. The gargoyles looking over Paris were absolutely amazing and made for some pretty good photos. After the wait to get up and the wait to come back down, it was getting late, so I made my way back to Hotel Monte Carlo to get ready for my big evening.
The Illuminations Tour was lovely, and a welcome break from walking around. We saw nearly the whole city, all lit up and pretty. We even drove around the Arc de Triomphe, getting involved in the crazy and disorderly mess of traffic. There seem to be no rules for this road, and better be careful because some people drive way too fast right around the thing without regard for the other drivers. The last part of the tour, of course, was to the Eiffel Tower. Some people on the bus got off to take a boat tour of the Seine. While our tour guide showed them to the meeting point for the boat, the bus sat parked and gave me a great chance to stare up at the dazzling, sparkling tower. I would be at its top the next day!
We arrived at Moulin Rouge and got in line for our tickets. We were seated at the table closest to the left part of the stage and the show was great! The costumes were fabulous and feathery, and the dancers were very good. The show included a lot of dancing, a little juggling, a bit of audience participation in a ventriloquist show and little tiny show ponies! I had a great time. The bus took me back near my hotel and I couldn’t have been happier to be going to bed. I was exhausted!
I got inside and started up the stairs, which were steep and narrow. I must have turned my foot funny, because I heard and felt a crack and pop, and could no longer walk on my right leg. I somehow painfully managed to get to my floor, and could barely get around my room to get ready for bed. I kept thinking the knee would feel better in the morning. I finally hit the sack.
Friday morning I woke up and the pain seemed a bit better at first. I thought once I got out and about I’d feel better. I had a busy day ahead of me and no time to lose. So I got showered and headed out to the streets. I made it around the block – it took about half an hour - and went right back to the hotel. I asked the desk clerk about getting to a hospital. He put me in a taxi and off I went to the hospital. I was nervous because I didn’t have any idea how much this would cost, or what would happen once I got there.
I got into the emergency room, registered after talking to three people, the third spoke English. I sat down to wait to be called and this guy came out to get me and brought me to a room and asked me a bunch of questions about my knee. He gave me an ice pack and some codeine and sent me back to the waiting room. I wasn’t there long before a nurse lady came out and brought me back to a room. She didn’t speak English and was just motioning for me to sit here, lie here, wait, etc.
I was lying on the cot for a few minutes waiting and was about to fall asleep several times from the codeine. The doctor finally came and checked out my knee, and he told me he thought I’d torn a ligament and that I would need to keep walking on it for the time being but I needed to have it scanned once back in Dublin. He wrote me some prescriptions and sent me on my way. I walked quite a few blocks from the hospital before finding a metro station, where I made it down the stairs and to my stop. I went to the pharmacy, ate lunch, and got back to the hotel at around noon. I fell asleep for three hours. I didn’t know at that point whether I’d be staying on my vacation or not. I really didn’t see how I was going to get around anywhere in as much pain as I felt.
After my long nap, I decided that I didn’t care how long it took, I was going on a Seine River cruise and going to see the Eiffel Tower. At about three I got on the metro toward the tower. The boat station was at the foot of the tower, so I got there about ten minutes before the next tour started and got on the boat. The tour was fun, with great music on the earphones between information about each site we saw. After the tour, I walked over to the Eiffel Tower and decided to go up, since I was already there anyway. I got to see the City of Light from the Eiffel Tower and it was beautiful. After I came down, the tower was sparkling again. Every hour, they turn on the sparkle lights for about ten minutes. With that lovely vision in my memory bank, I went back toward the hotel and to a little restaurant where I had quiche and a coke, and not too much later I was in bed.
The next morning I got a taxi to the train station, where I caught the train to Brussels, then another train to Bruges from there. Again, I had decided to play it by ear with the travel and sightseeing because of the knee. So I figured that I had already paid for the trains, hotels and flights, I might as well enjoy it as much as possible. My B&B in Bruges – the Double Door – was absolutely charming. My hosts were Junko (Japanese) and her husband Pierre, a Bruges native. They couldn’t have been friendlier, and changed my room to a lower floor after hearing about my knee.
After spending a little time with them, I headed out on the town. I loved Bruges immediately. Everything was so picturesque, so medieval and beautiful. I saw several squares – Burg and Markt – and saw the Church of the Holy Blood, where I was able to see up close the decorated vial of two drops of the holy blood. The rest of my time in Bruges, which I loved despite my slow hobbling around the town with frequent sitting breaks, was spent ooohing and aaaahing over the many sights and all of the chocolate and lace stores. I took a canal cruise, saw a beautiful sunset, saw a museum and a bunch of churches, even heard nuns singing in Flemish in an old church in Begijnhof. It was a wonderful time.
Brussels was to be seen in less than a day, and it turns out I’m pretty happy I scheduled most of my time in Belgium for Bruges rather than Brussels. I wasn’t too impressed. This could be just because it was hurried, but Bruges was my absolute preference of the two. In addition to my tired knee and the fact that I was pretty ready to be home, it rained the whole day in Brussels, which made the limping, map-finding and souvenir shopping absolutely horrible while trying to hold the umbrella. I ate a typical Belgian meal for dinner and left for Dublin the next morning.
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