Day 2 - The Segway Tour

Well - Day 2 was certainly an adventure. We started off with heading towards the center of Paris - Il de la Cite. We stopped at a small cafe on the right bank of the Seine River and had a morning coffee. Then we went into the Conciegerie and saw where Marie Antoinette spent her last days in prison.

Conciergie Main Hall

Then we walked over to Sainte Chapelle which is a small church in the center of the Conciergerie which has the most incredible stain glass windows which all of the old testament books are recorded on.

Next stop was the crypt at the Notre Dame - which is just the old portion of the original building along with the Roman ruins of Paris. We walked inside Notre Dame which was way too crowded (like usual) and went into the Treasury. We were hoping to see the crown of thorns (allegedly) which St. Louis the King of France bought for 130,000 pds (wonder what today's numbers that would be) which turned out to be fake. They only bring the thing out on Good Friday so all we saw was a bunch fancy church vestaments and someone's thigh bone (couldn't tell who's it was - St. Louis probably paid too much for that one also and was just too embarassed to admit he had been taken another time). Next stop was lunch in a too expensive tourist trap where some American told the waiter "Hasta la vista" (is that French?).

We stopped a very nice park in the back of the Notre Dame. We did a photo op (yes, Doug, there is someone as crazy as me regarding photo ops).

After lunch we headed to the Deportation Memorial which has 200,000 crystals for all the people who were deported by the Nazi's (Jews, Jehovah Witnesses, resistance fighters, gays, mental ill, etc). Very touching.

Then over to the Ile St. Louis (where we were supposed to stay until the other company cancelled our apt), stopping at a little park. We then headed over to Berthillon for ice cream and boy, was it GREAT ice cream! We are coming back for more.

one of the many little (and expensive shops) on the Ile St. Louis

2 chicks in Paris in front of the Shakespeare Book Co.

We headed over to the Quartier Latin and the Shakespeare Book Co where we did "the 2 chicks in Paris" picture. It started to sprinkle and get a bit chilly.

Our next adventure was the bus. Lori decided she liked the bus better so we decided to try the bus. The first bus was fine and the right one. The second bus was the wrong direction so we only went 2 stops. The third bus was not only right but got us back to the Rue Cler. By then it was raining.

Our next adventure was the evening Segway tour. As you all know, these are 2-wheeled upright scooters. Talk about fun! There was 8 people in our group along with a guide - 2 young couple, me and Lori, and 40 something Italian couple. The guide takes each person individually and works with them on stopping and turning. I almost ran over the guide (not a good start). Lori did really well. Our guide was a really cute girl from Texas named Emily.

Then we headed onto the streets of Paris after practicing for 20 or 30 minutes. By then, it was pretty easy and the things fly. My Segway kept pushing back into me and I would have to slow down (later Emily told us our Segways were on the beginner mode and there was a speed limit which was slow us down if we got going too fast). There was one point where we had to jockey for position and make a left turn with the Parisian drivers. It was certainly a challenge.

We went to through the streets (and sidewalks) of Paris to see Invalides, the Place de Concorde, the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, and a few other places I forgot. Half way thru the tour, Emily took the speed control off our Segways and we could really rip! It was raining and cold but what a hoot. Lori and I locked wheels one time as we were goofing around. I came pretty close to a motorcycle one time which I think Lori got on video. One Parisian taxi almost pasted the Italian woman even tho she was in the crosswalk. Emily was yelling at him but she was okay.

We got back to the City Tour shop about 9:30. It was really raining by now and we were cold. We tried finding a taxi but never did - we walked the entire way home. We did stop and have a hot chocolate once we got back to warm us up.

The Segway Tour was one of the funnest things I have ever done. I did not hit anything or back into anything. I would do it again in a minute.