Pre-flight Parisian pastries

This day’s weather was not as nice, but I was staying at the base of Sacre Couer and was determined to get the most of my stay. It was a very early hike up to the church, with so many stairs that they offer a funicular, and my legs were still complaining about the exercise the day before (the funicular hadn’t yet opened for the day). At the top, I was rewarded with views of…clouds, and a few unrecognizable buildings. But the inside was lovely, albeit dark.

Dawn at Sacre Couer

From there it was a short stroll to Grenier à Pain, so short that I arrived before they opened. Thankfully the bistro next door was setting up for the day, and the manager kindly let me sit under their awning while I waited for his neighbor to open. Apparently I’d lucked out, as that day was the bakery’s first day back from vacation. When it did open, I walked in and was overwhelmed with options. The kind women helped me (in English) select a few to take with me, and with that I had to run back to the hotel for my luggage and head to the train station. Along the way, I saw a fruit shop and picked up a few pieces to round out my meal, which I ate while waiting for my flight to arrive. The architecture I’d seen was great, the pastries were delicious, and I got to ride a bike all day. Hard to keep a grudge against a city that has all that going for it.

my Parisian breakfast

I no longer hate Paris

People are always raving about their love of Paris, but my time there in 2000 wasn’t that great. To be fair, we met under less-than-ideal circumstances: it was the end of my study abroad travels and I was exhausted with far too much luggage to schlep around, and could only speak English and German. In return, I found Paris to be rude, smelly, and over-hyped. I was content to keep my distance. But as long as the return flight included the option of a layover, I decided to give it another shot and gave myself an overnight stay there.

 

We landed at Charles de Gaulle in the morning, and I arrived at my hotel near the train station just as the room became available to drop off my things and freshen up. Before coming, I learned that the city had bike shares and I decided this would be the best way to explore the city anew. Armed with a tourist map, I meandered until I found a station with bikes available. The system is simple: pay a daily fee for unlimited rentals that are 30 minutes or less, and pay extra for any additional time. The time begins when you un-dock a bike, and ends when you dock it. You could un-dock another bike within minutes to begin another leg. This added a game to my sightseeing, as I had to do every segment in short sprints and leave enough time to find the check-in stations.

view of the Seine

It was perfect weather as I biked down to and along the Seine to my first stop: Saint Chapelle. I’d learned about its medieval stained glass windows years ago, and was excited to finally see them in person. They didn’t disappoint, with towering columns of vivid colors depicting biblical scenes.

the windows of Saint Chapelle

It was great to spend as much time there as I wanted before heading to the other church I wanted to visit: Notre Dame. The line to get in here was much longer, but it was also a good experience. Before leaving, I even had a chance to catch a bit of their evensong. 

Notre Dame

Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Ammaus--I love the expressions on their faces

Rose window

intricate wrought iron on the main doors

Flying buttresses in the rear :)

After that, I wanted to take advantage of the weather and enjoy more biking time. After a loop around Notre Dame, I pedaled up to Luxembourg Palace to walk a bike through its lovely grounds. 

Enjoying the grounds at Luxembourg Palace

Next stop: the Louvre gardens, which also involved walking the bike for a bit. At last, I decided to imitate the Tour de France and bike up the Champs de Elysee, to the Arc de Triomphe. Until I was in the thick of it, I had no idea how long it was, or how much uphill was involved. 

We did it!

Frankly I felt like a little victory for me was in order by the time I made it, and I decided to go to the top of the Arc. Just one thing: you walk up a spiral staircase to the top. My legs were already a little tired before I started, and somewhere along the hundreds of steps I really questioned my sanity, but it was worth it when I eventually made it to the top to enjoy the exhibit in the rooms at the top and the views on the top at sunset. It started to sprinkle slightly while I was up there, but waiting it out meant that I got a prime view as the Eiffel tower lit up and started sparkling. Resistant as I was, I had to admit it was a beautiful sight.  

Memorial tokens of their fallen soldiers inside the top of the Arc de Triomphe

Dusk on top of the Arc

The Tower illuminates

I decided to pedal towards it, eventually going under it and through the park to a neighborhood, where I finally sat down to eat something. I was ready to bust out the limited “menu French” I’d acquired in Madagascar, but they beat me to it with a menu in English. Sitting for this long made me realize what I’d subjected my legs to over the course of the day, and I was grateful to realize the metro wasn’t far away for the return to my hotel. Still, climbing up the stairs to the platform was a slow, stiff walk. I concluded the day with a little research on the best bakeries near my hotel that would be open early enough for me to grab breakfast on my way to the airport.

View on my night ride

Lemur finale

My last day in Madagascar began with a trip to a lemur park about an hour outside of Tana. It’s a rescue facility for lemurs illegally captured as pets, and doubles as an educational facility to help the public appreciate these critters. I’d seen several species on my previous trip, but this place was unique for seeing species from all over the country in one place. Species that would never encounter each other in the wild played here as friends. True, it’s not the same as seeing them in the wild, but instead of hiking up steep hills for hours to glimpse them in the distance I simply strolled along the path for unobstructed views up close. The guide took me to their usual spots and they were all adorable, but the sifakas clearly enjoyed showing off for an audience.

Black and white ruffed lemur

Ring-tailed lemur

Bamboo lemur

Sifakas showing off

Malagasy pioneers

Back in Tana, I did a quick round of farewells at the office and shopping for gifts before heading back to the hotel for some quality pool and sauna time, including a massage to preemptively counter the hours I was about to spend on another flight. And to top it off: one last dinner at La Verangue with my favorite dessert. I returned to the hotel relaxed and full, grabbed my bags, and waited for the driver to arrive. And waited…and waited. After a week of him arriving before I was ready, this was rather unusual. But it wasn’t until about a half hour passed that I started to grow concerned. I didn’t have his cell phone number, and the number I did have for a colleague went unanswered. Finally, I asked the front desk to call a cab for me. I didn’t have enough cash to pay for this unexpected ride, but thankfully learned that the bank which accepts my ATM was nearby. And with that, the race was on. 

I didn’t know how long it would take to get to the airport or clear customs, but given how long I’d waited I was really concerned I’d miss my flight. To top it off, he had to stop and fill up his tank. Thankfully it was late enough at night the roads were clear, and to ease my nerves I was able to text home to ask for their joint prayers on my behalf. After what felt like an eternity, we arrived at the airport and a small miracle occurred. At the curb, a guy in uniform insisted on taking my bags and pushing them on the luggage cart. Normally I brush these guys off but I wasn’t fast enough. I still don’t understand how this happened, but he bypassed the endless lines I saw weaving through the airport and got me to the front to check my luggage, ensuring I’d make my flight. Once he deposited me and my bags there, he disappeared in the crowd. Angels come in all sizes and colors! 

It was such a relief when I made it to the gate just before boarding. As we walked across the tarmac to our plane, we had a final security check before we boarded at both ends. I was near the back of the plane and discovered how narrow it gets back there. While I scored with being in the row right behind the bathrooms (i.e. plenty of legroom), the seat was so narrow I barely fit into it, and my shoulder was in the window well! I can’t imagine how anyone larger than me would manage it, especially for 11 hours. But it was late, and thankfully the sleeping meds worked for most of the leg to Paris.

The long road back to Tana

As I carried my bags across the sand to the car, I took one last look at the bright stars above the rustling palm trees. We were doing the return drive in a single day and needed to leave well before sunrise. As we drove in the darkness, I glimpsed the silhouettes of baobabs and the occasional small fire in homes as people began their day. Given the darkness, I was surprised to see people already walking along the side of the road.

Sunrise, and the smoke of an early fire

Our return drive was much of the same scenery, and with nothing else to do I tried capturing some of our fellow commuters.

Roadside stand for breakfast

a young zebu herder

Is it still called carpooling if the vehicle looks like a golf cart?

People washing their laundry in the riverbed

How the locals get between towns: taxi brousse

Drying her laundry and crops

Traffic jam, Madagascar style

For some people, they keep their savings in zebu rather than banks

family tombs

We even saw a few covered wagons, reminding me of the pioneers and the Oregon Trail

We only saw rickshaws in a few of the villages, carrying people or cargo

In the areas with road damage, we repeatedly saw groups of children pretending to repair the road as cars approached and begging for money as compensation for their “work.” I didn’t blame them for trying, but what surprised me was how consistently this played out over such long distances that there’s no way the kids could have been in contact.

The roads were damaged in a recent cyclone; you can see why we had to slow down even on the straight parts

On my previous trip to Madagascar we’d seen some pretty nasty accidents, made even worse by the isolation lack of medical response. I was glad we hadn’t seen anything this trip, but shortly after commenting on that to the driver we passed a nasty accident involving one of those packed taxi brouses. I couldn’t bear to look closely, but the driver thought it could have resulted in a fatality. My prayers for road safety increased the closer we got to Tana. The narrow roads had been mostly empty all day, but in the afternoon commute it turned into a crowded and high-speed race as private cars, semis, and taxi brouses raced each other and attempted to pass zebu-pulled carts on winding roads. After a few close calls I couldn’t look ahead any longer, and prayed while looking anywhere but forward.

I was more than grateful when we safely arrived at our office, and celebrated my return to the hotel with some sauna time to stretch and a delicious dinner in the hotel’s restaurant.