Viva La Paris!

We’ve been debating this for two days now and it’s really starting to nag me – what’s the most famous ‘thing’ in the world (‘thing’, from my imaginative 8-year old daughter). How does one answer such a question (is this where I’m supposed to start a poll?) Some of the answers that came from the back seat of the car included the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial, Uluru, and this gem from Sawyer, “Hawaii!” The question comes hot on the heels of a visit to two well-know ‘things’ – the Eiffel Tower, and the Mona Lisa. Both in one big, blusteringly cold day in Paris, which started from a relative’s apartment on an island in the middle of the Seine River – directly opposite the Louvre Museum. Does it get any cooler than that? Crossing the bridge, in search of breakfast, me wowing the architecture (Simon was wowing the $300,000 Bentley convertible that passed us; Sawyer was into the cacophony of car horns that is SO Paris, and Hanieka was eye-balling a chocolate croissant out front of a bakery), the Louvre was just minutes from our front door. As far as museums go, I think this is the grand-daddy. All 650,000 square feet of it. Rotating 35,000 pieces of art, the Louvre has the ability to reduce you to an insignificant spec. It really does take a good week and a half to see everything, and then some. Our visit was exactly the day before the one day of the month when it is free to visit, so naturally, we didn’t have the crowds that it is also famous for. Checking my coat, bag and, yes, Scarf, we set out for some serious foot stomping, making a bee-line to Mona, as does about 95% of everybody else. I knew she was small, but not THAT small. I’d like to say that I stood and stared at her, contemplating who the sitter really was, what the hell she was smirking about, but really I was more interested in getting a shot of the kids in front just right, and of the crowd, who were also snapping away. As just so happens, a Japanese tour group, always good value, gave me plenty of photos ops. Later on, feeling like a cultural misfit, I wandered back without the camera and really looked at her, and felt like a spec (again).

We had grandiose plans of walking all the way over to the Eiffel Tower, but even a crepe and coffee stop couldn’t push us that last kilometer and a half. So, a hybrid taxi took us the rest of the way and we began the 40 minute wait for a ticket on the elevator. I’m not really a tourist any more, and I certainly have never had a stomach for heights. With 9/11 in the back of my mind, we made it to the top where I wanted to vomit. I had Scarf with me, and wrapped that poor thing up over and around my head and neck. It was pretty cold and windy, and I swear that that iron behemoth was rocking back and forth. I’m sure the view was spectacular, but I was busy having a fit.

So, the answer to Hanieka’s question: La Gioconda (as Mona Lisa is known in France), is visited by about 6 million people a year. The Eiffel Tower – people PAY to go up there!! – is climbed by approximately 6.7 million a year. Lady Liberty loses hands down – she’s been closed to visitors since 9/11. Lincoln Memorial? Well, he’s open 24 hours a day and is free. Uluru, a stiff climb even for fit-twits, garners only a half million visitors a year. Hawaii, on the other hand, has in excess of 7 million a year. So, Sawyer was right- again! Hawaii is the most famous ‘thing’.