We had just finished our lunch when we checked the time, and frantically discovered that we had about 5 minutes to get to the station to catch our train! We really sprinted to get there on time, but when we climbed the stairs up to the track with two minutes to spare, we found it odd that the train wasn't there yet. We perched on a bench to catch our breath, waiting for it to arrive, but when 10:55 rolled around and it wasn't there yet, Doug went to go check why...only to discover that the train was indeed there, but further down on the track! And it was leaving! Oh no! What invalids we are! No, actually, they were merely taking an engine off, so we just barely got on the actual train in time. Course, I'm not sure that was such a lucky break, because it was the train car with suspension from hell. Even though it was a German train called "the Göethe," I was really starting to get nauseously sick of traveling on trains. I was glad to know that this would be the last one we'd take save for the one to the airport.

We arrived in the Paris Est station, ecstatic that the weather seemed like it was agreeing with us for what I knew would be a crowded and stressful city! We then emptied out into the metro station, but were undecided between buying one ticket, a strip of tickets, or a pass for the day. Luckily, contrary to what you might believe, the woman at the metro booth was very nice and helpful....that is, until some rude older lady strutted up to the counter right in front of us and proceeded to shriek and yell in French about something or other. Our kind attendant suddenly turned New York on us, slammed the ticket back at the lady and screamed back at her; the woman continued hollering as she reluctantly walked away. After that, we were scared to ask the attendant anything, but she was nice and merely explained that the impetuous woman couldn't figure out how to use the ticket-taking turnstiles and was blaming her for it. What, is this a town full of invalids?

Another `huge' dome, this one with 15 lbs of gold

We settled in quickly, then were very eager to see some of Paris. We headed first, appropriately, to the "Hôtel des Invalides", but no, this was not the hotel where President's stayed or any-thing. This what used to be a place for injured veterans of war....now a fascinating military museum and a dome which houses Napoleon's tomb. Even though 1/3 of the museum was already closed before we got there, I think we got to see all the best parts. I cannot describe what it felt like to see the actual muskets, uniforms, swords, etc. of every war from medieval times to WW I to even WW II . That last room was the creepiest for me; since we had experienced so much W.W.II wreckage throughout our trip (actually, in every single city we visited except Lucerne), it was chilling to see an actual Swatziche flag and real Nazi uniforms. Both Doug and I knew that our respective Dad's would have been totally intrigued with that museum. Actually, after the military wing, Napoleon's tomb was almost a letdown, since all the stone reliefs and a 10' casket for such a little man only enlightened us to how phony and pathetic his whole image was. However, we were very glad we had experienced it, and found it to be one of the most underrated sights on our rushed tour of Paris.

I guess I took too many pictures of the Eiffel Tower!

From there we took a slightly longer stretch on foot to the Arc de Triomphe, it fitting since we had gone to the Napoleon tomb earlier. This was the one sight I had previously decided that I had no real interest in seeing, but I must say that I felt quite differently once I got there. We arrived as some sort of ceremony was taking place, wondering if it was for the German President[126]. Unable to really look around until it was done, we went back through the underpass and sat at the busstop, intrigued by the traffic on the Charles de Gaulle (Étoile) circle. Doug struck up a French conversation with the woman sitting on a bench next to us, discovering that the ceremony was something they did every day at 5:00 pm as memorial to the unknown soldier and all soldiers killed in W.W.II.

After the ceremony finished we walked around the Arc, and I found that I really liked the energy of the place. I figured that, since it was originally built to commemorate some Napoleon war victory, it would be oppressive and macho, but it embodied more of a feeling of regret in regards to war. It was getting dark when we left and walked back down the Champs-Élysées, aware of how different Paris was in comparison to many of the other cities in France. In Metz, Voiron, and Arles, we never noticed one single police car or patrol officer, but in Paris, they were everywhere! We couldn't walk two blocks without seeing one walk down the street, or see a cop car whiz by, or hear a police siren. Actually, this was a good sign for me, because it made me feel a lot safer than I thought I would in Paris.

Our last `invalidical' experience was trying to find a decent meal without spending a fortune. In this respect, Rick Steves took a dump once again, because two out of the three restaurants he recommended no longer existed, and the third (which we ended up going to) was bland and touristy...all for the low low price of $20/each?!? We tried our very best to enjoy that meal, but all we could think about was that this overcooked, dry, and tasteless steak and Jell-O-type chocolate mousse was the same price as the wonderful meal in the outskirts of Voiron! What was this about Parisian food being the best in the world?