Palais Omnisports de Paris - Bercy

We are down to our last three Paris City Walks cards. This one took us out to Bercy, where we had a look around the Palais Omnisports building.

It's an indoor sports and concert venue, built in the 1980's.

But what's the green stuff on the wall?

I can't imagine how they get a push mower up these inclines to mow it.

Oh, that's how.  A guy hoists a round rhoomba-type mower up and down with a rope.  That doesn't look like a fun job at all.

Also...what happens if the rope breaks?  Unwary pedestrians below better watch out.

We walked down to the Seine and took a detour along the Quai de la Rapée to get a view of the Cité de la Mode at du Design (Fashion Institute).  What a strange facade.  Apparently the green add-on is supposed to mirror the Seine below, but from this angle and in this lighting it just looks like an alien eye mask.

Before we crossed the river I took this shot of the Pont de Bercy, with the Bibliothèque National de France - François Mitterand in the background.

Then, from the other side of the river, we could view the Palais Omnisports beneath a graying sky.

This turned out to be one of the more boring walk cards.  The only thing that made up for it was that we had lunch at the Buffalo Grill.  It is a French chain restaurant specializing in Americana, with photos of the American West and Route 66 (although the website calls it "Road 66") plastered all over the walls.  The food wasn't fantastic, but at least now we know where to go if we're craving something resembling ribs or chicken wings.  In case you were wondering, the burger of the month is the Arizona Burger.

Night Cruise on the Seine

It's getting dark earlier in the evenings now, so tonight after dinner we decided to take a cruise on the Seine to view the city lights.  The cruise began at Pont Neuf, Paris' oldest bridge.

Directly across the river is the Samaritaine building, one of the oldest department stores in Paris.  The building is currently closed and is being redesigned as a luxury hotel.

Here is one of the clocks on the facade of the Musée D'Orsay.  (Sorry that nearly all of my pictures are blurry, the boat didn't slow down for photos!)

Next door is the Palais de la Légion d'Honneur, a museum displaying French medals, honors, and decorations.  The Legion of Honor is the highest decoration in France.

Here are a couple of shots of the Left Bank

After going under the Pont de la Concorde bridge...

Arch between some of the bridge's pilings

...we were rewarded with this lovely view of the moon over the Assemblée Nationale.

Then we went under the Pont Alexandre III.

And also under the Pont des Invalides.

This was my best attempt at catching the moon and the Eiffel Tower in the same shot.

The boat paused for a minute as it turned around at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

At the base of the tower is a carousel which is also lit up at night.  The tower is open to visitors until 11pm.

From there we traveled back the way we came.

The Louvre and the Pont Royal

When we got to the  Île de la Cité, we could see that the evening picnics were in full swing.

The brightly lit building with the white bands of light is the Institut du Monde Arabe.

Coming around the other side of the Île de la Cité, we passed by the Conciergerie.  Marie Antoinette was imprisoned here just prior to her execution in 1793.

We had another chance to view the Pont Neuf and the carved heads that decorate it as we approached the dock.

We were now back where we started and our cruise was at an end.

As we walked home, we passed by the brasserie Au Chien qui Fume ("The Smoking Dog"). It looked inviting, but we had already eaten dinner and weren't feeling like drinks so we just headed home.

Behind the Scenes Tour of the Eiffel Tower

Taking the "Behind the Scenes" tour of the Eiffel Tower was like being on the TV show "How Stuff Works" on the Discovery Channel.

Our tour guide, Aurora, was animated and informative as she described the history of the tower.  Contrary to popular belief Eiffel did not design the tower all by himself.  A team of engineers from his firm did the designing, including architect Stephen Sauvestre and structural engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier.  But Eiffel made sure to keep 99% ownership.  Upon his death, ownership of the tower passed to his family, but the city of Paris eventually purchased it from them.  Currently, the city leases operations to a private company and they split the ticket receipts 50-50.

Aurora walked us over to what appeared to be a maintenance shed near the tower.  It was the entrance to an underground military communications bunker that sits directly below the Champ de Mars and runs from the tower to the École Militaire at the other end.

Did you know that they originally intended to take the tower down after the 1889 World's Fair?  Eiffel saved it by obtaining permission to conduct scientific experiments at the summit.  Near the beginning of WWI, the military began using it as an antenna for the wireless telegraph which put an end to any discussion of taking down the tower.

Poster advertising use of the wireless telegraph; below right: original telegraph lines used (they have since been cut).

After exiting the bunker, we got in line at the tower's east pillar.  It is the only pillar that still uses one of the original elevators.

Before getting on the elevator Aurora took us below, to the inner workings of the elevator.  It was a very technologically advanced piece of machinery for 1889.  A hydraulic piston drives a series of Otis-designed pulleys to raise the elevators upwards and sideways to the 2nd floor.

The diagram does a good job of explaining how it works, but it was also very cool to see the equipment in action.  Aurora noted that because the equipment dates to the 1880's, modern lubricants can't be used.  They lubricate the cables with pork fat; other parts are lubricated with bull and sheep fat.

The white stuff underneath the piston on the left is animal fat.  Yuck.

And now it was time to actually get in the yellow elevator.  There is a little "operator" figure outside; it would have been a real person back in the 1880's.  The elevator moves vertically and horizontally on a diagonal track from the ground to the 2nd floor.  The 2nd platform is only 1/3 of the way up the tower.

There are two levels to the second floor.  The upper level seemed to be one long queue to get on the elevator going to the top.

The "Behind the Scenes Tour" stops on the 2nd platform.  But our "behind the scenes" access allowed us to climb some steps to the roof of the Jules Verne restaurant, and check out the views from there.  The Trocadéro, across the river (with La Défense behind)...

The Seine river, with a view of the Île aux Cygnes ...

A guy playing soccer all by his lonesome...

And of course the view of the Champ de Mars with the École Militaire and the Tour Montparnasse.

There is also a great view of the top of the tower, above...

...and of the tower's shadow across the Pont d'Iéna.

We also spotted the lights that make the tower sparkle at night as well as the upper pulleys for the elevators.

The tour ended on the second floor.  From there we had the option to purchase elevator tickets to the top for 5 euros, but the line was already more than 40 minutes wait time.  Instead we spent a few more minutes enjoying the view, then hiked down the stairs to the first platform and had lunch.

Even from the first floor the view was spectacular.

The people on the ground below look like ants.

We were quite glad to have taken the tour.  Not only was it a great explanation of the inner workings of the tower, but it allowed us to skip the ground floor queues for the elevators and stairs!