We are so happy to have a room to ourselves. This is the first time we have since leaving vienna around 17 days ago. We also have a tv - luxury. I watched private practice in French with French subtitles. This morning we had to give our key back to the receptionist, which was weird.
We caught the metro to the island in the middle of the Seine (the Paris river) and found our way to Notre Dame. It was quite busy with tourists but the queue to get into the church was moving quick so it only took us around 10 mins to get in. The church is very dimly lit and has beautiful stained glass windows.
When we came out I had a delicious crepe, with strawberry filling. It was as good, if not better, than the crepes in Dunedin. We had a look around he souvenir shops but did not buy anything - perhaps dragging even more stuff on the metro to get to the airport is putting us off! We did not go up the Notre Dame tower as we plan to do that tomorrow.
We then wandered down the road towards the Louvre, stopping to take pictures here and there of monuments and beautiful buildings. Part of the way we were walking along the banks of the Seine and saw a makeshift beach with people sunbathing!
We had a rest at the Louvre and sat just appreciating the impressive and gorgeous architecture of the building - and people watching. We saw army(?) men with automatic guns walking around, which was intimidating. We took the compulsory picture of the glass pyramid and fountains, them moved on to the Tuillaries Gardens.
The gardens run down from the Louvre and have two ponds, many flowers and large shady trees. One one side is a fair type amusement park where I used the toilet. We then found a kebab shop and had huge focaccia-like bread filled with kebab chicken.
At the end of the gardens is the place de la Concorde with a large obelisk covered in hieroglyphs, and then the beginning of the Champs Ellyses, a beautiful, tree lined street filled with high end shops. Part way down this street we saw people queuing to go into Abercrombie and Fitch. There were even car sales yards inside shops. We stopped at Laduree which sells macaroons (not the coconut biscuits covered in chocolate). Dad had recommended it so we though we had better try some - they were delicious! Unfortunately very fragile so we could not get any to bring home.
At the end of the Champs Elyses we found the Arch du Triomphe. There was a bit if a queue for tickets (10 minutes), so I bought the tickets while Stef had a look around the base of the arch. We climbed the stairs - not too many - and had a view of the crazy drivers in Paris!
To save our legs we caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower. We found a park near the tower and had a snooze in the shade of the trees. Feeling refreshed we went to find the tower entrance. There were thousands of people in the queue for tickets and the line was moving very slowly. I thought it would be at least two hours to get to the front. Only one of the lifts was operating!
We had a two flavoured ice cream to cool down - its very hot again - and decided to go on a river cruise. The cruise took and hour and had commentary about the sights we were passing. We saw heaps of beautiful buildings, and saw some of the buildings and had a different view of some of the monuments we had passed on foot.
At the end of the cruise we were dropped of at the Eiffel Tower and we decided to take the stairs option. The queue was still about 10 minutes and the sign said it was about 20 minutes of stairs. We could still take the lift from the 2nd floor which was great. In total it was 671 stairs to the 2nd floor! Luckily the first floor was about half way and it was a good excuse to rest on our way up.
When we finally reached the top of the Eiffel tower, it was a bit nerve wracking. The tower was shaking and shuddering. It was built 123 years ago!! And it is pretty far off the ground, with no real capacity for emergency exit. But the views were amazing and totally worth climbing all those stairs. We could see to the edges of the city and beyond. The arch du Triomphe which had looked massive was now a tiny play toy.
It was around 9pm and still quite light at this stage. We had not had dinner because the light tricks you into thinking its not that late. We tried to find somewhere to eat, but the restaurants up the tower required bookings. We found our way down and bought stodgy overpriced food off a nearby street vender.
-Heidi xx
Photos:
Relaxing at the Eiffel Tower
The Louvre
Pyramids at the Louvre
Stef up the Eiffel Tower (spot the shadow)
Arch du Triomphe
Seine river cruise
Eiffel tower shoes (sorry Helen they don't sell them any more)
Yum licorice macaroon
View from top of Eiffel tower
Me on the Arch du Triomphe looking up the Champs Elyses
On our way to Notre Dame
Sitting at the river for dinner
Views look amazing! I think I could do with those shoes -might make me as tall as my sons! Enjoy your last days of exploring.
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