May 24, 2026

Dateline: Paris, France

As I’m slightly past the half way point of this trek and, according to my pedometer, I’ve logged seventy miles of my feet over the last ten days, I decided I needed a slower paced day today. I was a bit afraid that last night’s merriment might get the best of me this morning, but I was up at my usual time and moving within an hour, and sat down to the usual tourist hotel breakfast buffet. I’m rather suspicious of the hot bar so I’ve been doing mainly pastries, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. Jonathan and David and I said our goodbyes last night and, last heard of, they were boarding a plane at Charles de Gaulle for the return to NYC. Due to the holiday weekend, they will get a day to recuperate before having to return to work.

I set out to do a little more sight seeing before the day became too hot. It’s now in the 80s. July weather in May. At least it’s not too humid yet. I remember that being problematic the last time I was here more than forty years ago. I headed out to the Champs Elysee (a wide boulevard of upscale stores and fast food restaurants), and ambled on up the avenue, feeling a bit like Kay Thompson in the Bonjour Paris sequence from Funny Face. At the far end, the Arc de Triomphe reigned above the Parisian drivers courting death in the madhouse that is the roundabout of the Place d’Etoile or Place Charles de Gaulle as I think it was renamed some years ago. The arch is massive, roughly 165 feet tall, and with the people who braved the 284 steps to the top looking like multicolor insects from my distance, I could not help but speculate what an arch to the scale of that planned by our president will actually look like. His plans call for it to be roughly 50% taller and, in order for the proportions to look right, it will need to be 50% wider and 50% deeper. The last time I checked 1.5 cubed was 3.375 so we’re talking nearly three and a half times the size of the Arc de Triomphe. Those who have been to Paris can now start to see how out of scale with the other DC monuments it’s going to be. I forsee one of a couple of futures. 1. It never gets built. 2. It gets built but is quickly taken down again. 3. It gets built and it actually catches on. This third possibility is what happened with my next stop.

The Eiffel Tower was built in the late 1880s to be the centerpiece of the World Exposition of 1889 and to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution. It was a marvel of engineering and iron work then, and now and remains, at 330 feet, the tallest structure in Paris. (This means that Trump’s arch is about 3/4 of it’s height). When it was first proposed and constructed, it was not met with universal favor but within a few years it became a legendary symbol of the city and the country and it’s difficult to imagine the Paris skyline without it. I headed to the Plaza Trocadero (the best view) and then a couple of more Metro stops to the tower itself. I paid to go to the top on my last trip and I have found that my desire to climb to the top of various monuments has sharply decreased over the years. I looked up at it, not from the angle I wanted to as late stage vulture capitalism has decreed that the entire tower be surrounded with plexiglass and that admission must be paid to even stand by the feet. I wasn’t feeing it.

After some lunch, I did a little shopping, a little sitting in cafes and a little napping. I have one more full day in Paris tomorrow which I plan to spend the morning of in Montmartre. Haven’t decided on the afternoon/evening yet. It’s likely to be something indoors if it does not cool down some. Perhaps some of the smaller museums that are off the beaten track. We shall see.