Friday 12/28/2018
Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower
Our first full day in Paris had a LOT in store for us. We had breakfast at the hotel (30 euros per person) and then we all walked along the Seine to Notre Dame. The walk along the banks of the Seine was really enjoyable seeing the boat traffic and boats tied to the river banks. It is a nice relaxing walk away from the hustle and bustle of Paris. Once we got to Notre Dame, however, we unfortunately stood in line behind an Asian lady who scowled at us because Momma and I joined Troy and Kayla in line in front of her. We let her go ahead of all of us without any 'merci' or 'thank you' or acknowledgement - just a scowl. She later, only three or four minutes later, let her husband and daughter join her in line without asking us. Horrible woman. Luckily, the line moved quickly and we never saw her again in Paris.We toured the cathedral which is a truly inspiring work of art in itself. We were going to walk upstairs to the top of the towers, but it was not free and another long line and Momma was not going to walk up the stairs so we decided against it. On our way leaving Notre Dame and at Momma's request, we got a photo in front of Charlemagne's statue before we left Notre Dame's area.
Leaving Notre Dame, we walked towards the Eiffel Tower and stopped for lunch at Le Petite Cluny where we had escargot (Kayla's first escargot) and her first creme bruele. Lunch was very good here. There was no wait to get a table. The service was impeccable and the food was delicious. See Kayla's video below of her eating escargot.
After leaving the restaurant, it was too far of a walk to the Eiffel Tower so we got a taxi which sped along the busy street that runs along the Seine. This was with a good driver although he seemed to speak little English.
The line for the Eiffel Tower was long, but we had to do it (of course). We could have paid more to skip the line, but the weather was not too cold so we toughed it out. We started in line before dark but it was well after dark by the time we even got to the ticket booth to actually buy the tickets. We rode the elevators all the way to the top, but it was so foggy we could not see anything out of the windows. No matter. We went to the top. I bought a Christmas ornament on the way down (I think I have already lost it) and Kayla bought us all macaroons which Kayla had to try because she had seen rich people in movies eating them. We made our way back down to ground level and caught a taxi back to the hotel where we had dinner for the second night. No clubbing this evening. We were exhausted.
Here are the pictures from our Breakfast on the Seine (Capital 'B' as it cost so much money) and then walking along the banks of the Seine to Notre Dame:
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| Momma does not always scowl. |
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| Our first view of Notre Dame that morning. |
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| Kayla taking Troy's photo. Not sure why she is soooo far away. |
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| A Noah-Perfect-Selfie with all of us plus Notre Dame. |
These next few photos are from inside Notre Dame. It is a beautiful building and still decorated for Christmas that day.
The star at the top of this next photo was for Christmas and really impressed us. I have a short video of it as well.
After exiting the cathedral, we took photos by the statue of Charlemagne before crossing the river and walking towards the Eiffel Tower.
Here we are at lunch at Le Petit Cluny where Kayla had her first escargot and the creme bruele.
Then we took a taxi to the Eiffel Tower. Still daylight in the first photos, but after dark by the time we got to the actual ticket booth.
It had been clear skies up until dark. Then the low-level clouds rolled in which ended up blocking our view from the very top level, but that was fine. We still had an excellent view from the mid-point.
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| Top Level. Champagne Bar. No View. |
These photos are from the mid-level viewing area. No clouds here. Great view. Plus, this is where we had macaroons, champagne and I bought my Christmas tree ornament which I can no longer find.
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| Macaroons |
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| Champagne and Eiffel Tower Commemorative Macaroon |
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| 1899 Sign |
Page 2: London to Paris on the Eurostar
Page 3: Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower
Page 4: The Louvre and the Petit Palais
Page 5: Galleries Lafayette and Dinner
Page 6: New Year's Eve in Paris
Page 8: Our Last Day in England
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