First day of the Whirlwind tour of Paris 5-28-15

Today we made our way to the hotel to pick up the crew.  Todays agenda was a visit to a street market, picnic in Luxembourg Gardens, a BatoBus boat cruise of the Seine, a visit to the Tour Eiffel, and then dinner at Spring.  So just one street over from the hotel was a market to introduce everyone to Paris shopping.   While the women walked through market the men sought out and bought a cheap wine and some water after which we all jumped on a bus and went over to the Luxembourg Gardens.

We had a nice if somewhat breezy picnic then made our way down to the Seine to get tickets for the BatoBus which is a cruise of the Seine from the Jardin de Plantes on the East to the Eiffel Tower on the west with many stops where one can alight, see the local sights, then jump back on to the boat to another stop where one repeats the process.  We got on at the quai right across from Notre Dame, where we stopped earlier for people to take some photos.  Our circuit took us east to the last stop and then back again west over to the Eiffel Tower.   Interestingly, since the French Open is in progress there is a giant tennis ball with Roland Garros printed on it hanging from the second deck of the tower.


They also have a big screen set up and are covering the open live on the TV, so people were out with picnic lunches and lounging on the grass.  Very festive, with a kiosk where one could hit tennis balls into a net and have the speed of their serves recorded, and another venue where one could get on a platform and be raised above the treetops by a crane (a bit sketchy if you ask me).

After we got back on the boat we rode around another circuit and finally got off next to the Louvre. We were able to see the corner next to the Louvre where the Tour de France riders turn and go under the tunnel before heading to the west up to the Arc de Triumph for a total of 7 circuits.  It makes watching the tour so much more interesting to have been where they actually ride.  Then across the courtyards of the Louvre to a bistro where we rested up with an aperitif prior having a memorable dinner at Spring.  The owner is a U.S. citizen, Daniel Rose, who came over from Chicago many years ago and created this extremely popular restaurant.