The City of Light

We awoke at 5:30 (it was kind of like getting up at 11:30 for us) and drove towards the City of Light at 6:30 or 7.  Armistice day, a Vacation day for anyone working in Paris means the day off for most men and women working in Paris.  We hoped that would mean we would encounter minimal traffic.  (Gina M.- we thought of you during our "God moment" driving into Paris when there was absolutely no one on a road which is normally a sea of red taillights for miles.  When Mom and Dad planned the trip they had no idea this would be a holiday.)

 After Dad dropped us off in front of a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower, we drifted down to "la Tour Eiffel".  It opened at 9:30 but it was only 8:30. While we seriously considered leaving and coming back at 9:30, a very agreeable man working at the tower, enlightened us to the fact that, because of the holiday, there would end up being more people at the tower.  So, we waited it out, and, oh la la, the line at 9:30 stretched almost to the street.

With butterflies that were on steroids in our stomaches we climbed the stairs to the first floor.  They are putting a new first floor on the tower so our stay there lasted a short interval.  There is a part of the floor made of glass on which you can timidly shuffle or bodily stride.  

Attempting to fix our eyes on the iron stairs, but succumbing to the occasional glance outside the metal cage, we climbed on to the second story, where our climb stopped.  There is a staircase up the tower, but it is not open, as anyone climbing up to 1000 meters on a mesh staircase (the kind you can see through) with only a railing for protection without practice will… have problems.  (I shudder)  Even the elevator ride up the second half of the tower created small interior spasms.  To think that Gustave Eiffel climbed the entire tower with his daughter to get to his apartment on the top in unthinkable.

The view from the top, still, amazed me.  Paris looked like a map.

After the Eiffel Tower, we hopped on a tour boat, which floated us alone the Seine River pointing out the historic bridges and landmarks from the river.  Using the same ticket, we caught a "hop on – hop off" tour bus that banged through the cobblestone streets.  At this point, in began to rain.  We were also on the top deck of an open-top tour bus, not especially desiring to move.  After a small detour at the Louvre,

 we hopped off, to dry off, with "du chocolat chaud", at a café looking out at Notre Dame.  We decided to end the day by peeping into Notre Dame, awesome in the true sense of the word.  

Then, a scrumptious distraction at a bread festival outside led to feeding the birds, which inclined themselves to coming and landing on our hand and snatching bread from it.  Finally, we wearily dragged ourselves back onto the big red bus and headed home, to smack the sack.

It had been a wonderfully tiring day in the city of light.