Arrival in Paris

We have been very accustomed to DIA, but with current renovations there, the place has become like a zoo.  Paris, CDG, the largest of several airports in the Paris area, is huge beehive of activity. The ride to our hotel in city center was long; glad we didn't have to negotiate metro stops with all our luggage in an unfamiliar town & language.  What we know in Spanish doesn't seem to carry over to French.  Study the phrase book!   I walked to Notre Dame tonight to get some views.  Needed the exercise, and the lighting was good.

Looking north from our hotel room toward Notre Dame cathedral.

Notre Dame cathedral with visible smoke damage and scaffolding in place.

Paris has exceeded our expectations (not being lovers of big cities).  Very satisfied with our hotel and location; we are within walking distance of Notre Dame and the Sorbonne.  Everyone has been helpful; we have not experienced any standoffish Gaulic attitudes.  Saw much more of Paris than we planned when our city bus did a "great circle route" of the city rather than a back-and-forth route between our hotel and the Eiffel tower.  Roughly 12.5 million persons in the metro area.  Driving our rental car out of Paris today was the hard part.

We had been to the Eiffel tower previously, but this time we stood in the long line and took an elevator to the top.

The Arc de Triomphe, located in the center of a traffic circle.  You need to take a tunnel to get to it.  We had dinner near here and noted broken windows in stores from recent "yellow vest" riots.

The highways in France are excellent; smooth and well-marked.  We are driving a new VW "T-Roc" small SUV.  It has all the latest features: proximity warnings, lane-keeping guidance, rain sensors, GPS, A/C, and two video screens.  Six-speed manual but it tells when to shift and what gear to use.  I really enjoy European cars; very fuel and space efficient in a compact size but also for good highway driving.  The speed limits here vary frequently, between 90 and 130 kph.