We spent about 45 minutes walking around the Arc. We decided that we did not want to get back on the bus, we were ready to hit the Eiffel Tower. If we had gotten back on the bus we would have to ride through 4 other stops before we got there so we decided to walk. We walked for about 30 minutes and noticed one of the red buses. We thought we must be getting close but we had no idea what we were in store for. We had been walking through a downtown street and when we got to the end, there in front of us was the Eiffel Tower in all of its glory. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen in my life. You see pictures of the Eiffel Tower and statues but seeing the actual thing was something entirely different than I had ever expected. It is known to everyone other than the Americans as the Tour Eiffel.
Greg and I decided to walk up the Eiffel Tower instead of taking the elevator, little did we know that this meant you had to walk up all 700 stairs to the second platform. When we started to walk up the Tower we got to the first platform (360 steps) and decided to stop and have a snack. We went to the little cafe and ate a chocolate croissant and a quiche along with some hot chocolate, all while we looked at the spectacular views from the first deck.
We were going to take the elevator up to the second platform but that is when we found out you had to walk the rest of the way, that was where the remaining 340 steps came in. We then took the elevator up the the very top of the Eiffel Tower. It was magnificent. We got to see all of the views of Paris, I never realized how big Paris was and how many buildings they have, they are all crammed in like sardines. We even saw their replica of our Statue of Liberty that they had given us.
Once we were done with the Eiffel Tower we decided to take a river cruise down the Seine River. We saw many building, bridges, gargoyles, and so much more. One of the most unique buildings that we saw was Notre Dame. I had always heard the story of Notre Dame and the Hunchback, but never had seen any pictures of it. The front was gorgeous but the back was so much more intriguing. It is very gothic looking. There are even statues going up the roof of the building. This picture is the backside of Notre Dame.
Once we got off of the river cruise we headed to the Musee du Louvre. Everyone had warned me that the Louvre would take a couple of days to go through but did not believe anyone. We did not arrive until 5 pm and they close at 6 pm so we did not actually go inside and look at an of the art, we didn't feel like we would have any time. We did however walk around the outside and take in all of the statues and beauties that the building itself had to offer.
The entrance to the Louvre is exactly how it looks in The Davinci Code, the big glass pyramid, as seen below.
We spent about 45 minutes walking around the outside of the Louvre, again, it was amazing. The age of the buildings and the detail that was put into them was nothing like I had ever seen and don't think the states will ever appreciate. We jumped back on the hop-on hop-off bus and took a small tour of the city, we rode back by Notre Dame, we also got to see the Hotel des Invalides. This is where Napoleon's Tomb is located. We did not get to go in but got to see the outside. We ended up at the Opera House, which is where we got on the bus. We did a little shopping, didn't buy anything, and also grabbed a beignets to snack on. We walked around this shopping area and decided to walk back to the train station instead of taking the bus. We walked down La Fayette street and stopped to eat a cheese crepe for supper. We got back to the train station and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the rest of London.
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