yen versus france: bring it

The great thing about Tour Montparnasse is that the view includes the Eiffel Tower. You can also see some above ground Metro stations on the left side.

If you've ever considered putting a stork-turkey on your tombstone (pizza), I ask you rethink that plan.

If your friends have ever considered putting an man beast insect on your tombstone (pizza), consider getting new friends.

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Day 30 September 14, 2008

You say you want to go up high? Like a butterfly in the sky? No, twice as high! Take a look, it's in a...hell no, Geordie, I'm not looking in no book. I'm going up Tour Montparnasse.

This tower sticks out like a sore thumb in the Paris skyline...unless you're in it. For 10 euros, you don't have to look at it; you can look at everything else but. And see how it wins when compared to the Eiffel Tower for viewing the flat city that is Paris:

Cost: 10 vs 12 euros (to go up to the Eiffel Tower 3rd level which is the fair comparison).
View: You see Eiffel from Tour Montparnasse (great!), but you see Tour Montparnasse from Eiffel (not so great).
Height: Even though Eiffel is higher, you can't go to its highest point. The rooftop on Tour Montparnasse is higher than the 3rd level viewing platform on Eiffel.
Elevator ride: At Eiffel, there are long, long lines to two different elevators (one from ground level to 2nd; the other from 2nd to 3rd level). Each elevator ride takes well over a minute. At Tour Montparnasse, there are no lines to use the elevator that takes exactly 38 seconds to get to the 56th floor. Then climb 3 more floors to get to the roof.
Crowds: About 15-20 people on the rooftop with me compared to GOBS on Eiffel.

I also visited the Montparnasse Cemetery where one of my favorite writers, Samuel Beckett, is buried. I'm not one of those people who takes a picture of myself with the tourist attraction / painting / famous tombstone - because I'm such a visual distraction (how does human face get like THAT?) - but I kinda wanted one with me and Samuel. Alas, there was another woman there looking at his grave who was about to get all verklempt so I skedaddled.

There's a daily flower market near Notre Dame that turns into a bird market every Sunday. By birds, I mean parakeets, lovebirds, penguins, chickens, gerbils, rabbits and goldfish. I really wanted a chicken.

At night, I watched an hour-long Celine Dion interview on tv. What's that, you ask? Oh yes, I'm on vacation by myself. How did you know?

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