Late afternoon, we took the Metro to see the Eiffel Tower. There was a long queue at the feet of two of the legs and no queue at the other two. The reason soon became clear: one of these queue-less legs offered access to the top by stairs only and at the other there was no public access at all. We decided not to wait around for the elevator: I didn't want to queue and I didn't want to walk up; Christine, after seeing how tall it was, didn't want to go up it at all. So we walked around while I took a few photos.
After consulting my Metro map, I realised that the Metro stop Charle de Gaulle Etoile, the terminus of the Metro no. 6 line we had used to reach the Eiffel Tower, was actually at the Arc de Triomphe; so we went there, then had a nice walk down the Champs Elysee, looking at the shops.
We walked into a large store selling cosmetics and perfumes. As I took out my camera to take a picture, a saleswoman walked up to me and said that taking photos was forbidden. I made Christine leave behind the items she was about to purchase and we stormed (or at least I did) out of the store. What a strange policy, right in the heart of one of France's biggest tourist attractions! |
