Friday night, part 2

Well, its about 10:45 CET, or Central European Time, and I am exhausted and hurting. After we checking into the hotel around 4 pm local time, it was off to my room, which was way too hot and way too warm. I closed the curtains, checked some email, and then went off to meet up with Heather, Andrew and bunch of students for dinner on the Rue Cler. It was a bit of a walk from the hotel, a couple of kilometers, but it was worth it. We walked past the Eiffel Tower (more about that in a while), then through some parks and back streets to get to this small pedestrian only shopping district. Lots of little restaurants, cafes, and assorted shops. I ate with the Cudmores in a small cafe (and it was my turn to pick up the bill!) and had a wonderful fried duck quarter, with roasted potatoes, a small salad, and we shared 2 carafes of white wine. It was quite good, while the students ate in a small cafe just across the way that served Italian food. After dinner, we wandered around the district, and then eventually got some desert from a small bakery. I had a pistache macaroon. Not exactly an american style macaroon, but something that was amazingly tasty. That and a diet coke, it was the ideal dinner.

Then it was off to the Eiffel Tower. We chose the shorter line, which was to walk up to the first level, a total of 325 steps. Its a lot more than it sounds, and by the time I got to the top, my right calf was driving me crazy. Last night we went to see Macbeth in Stratford, a performance by one of the Royal Shakespeare Companies. It was a semi modernized version, but it was loud, and my original seats on the balcony were so cramped that for the first hour and 20 minutes, I was in pain from a leg cramp, including the one that developed in my right calf. I had been hoping it might have been worked out, but the climbing of the Eiffel Tower set it throbbing. I was smart enough to pay the extra money to go to the second level, but I did have to walk down and walk home about 2 km back to the hotel. I am hurting, and I think I may call it a fairly early night since I got very little sleep last night. I have lots of pictures, but I left the cable behind in Oxford, so hopefully I will post a bunch of pictures on Monday night (depending on how late it is when I get back) or on Tuesday morning.

Tomorrow is off to the Louvre, and then a bit of a free day. Perhaps it will be off to see Napoleon's tomb, then dinner at a Japanese restaurant in the Rue Cler. Either that, or I will spend some time in my small guide book and find something to do. However, it does depend on how my leg is doing. I think some tylenol should make it feel better. Keep your fingers crossed cause it hurts like a bitch.