Monday, June 9, 2014

Eiffel Tower

Today we slept in a bit, but we still got to enjoy our continental breakfast at the hotel in Paris.  When we get to breakfast in the morning there is a wine glass with orange juice and a jar of plain yogurt on the plate and in the middle a plate with 4 different mini jam jars and one honey jar and a basket with some fresh croissants, chocolate croissants and baguettes.  The waiter brings a plate with ham and cheese and you can have either coffee or tea (8 flavors).  The sugar comes in packets of 2 cubes.
After breakfast I got information from the front desk about what metro (subway) to take to go see the Eiffel Tower.

We got to the Eiffel Tower, but looked at where to find our tour group and it was like a block away, so we couldn't make it in time to meet up with them, so Joann called the number on the information sheet and we were able to meet up with the tour group before they went up the tower and go with them.  The guide was very knowledgeable and we got to stay at the half way point of the Eiffel Tower as long as we wanted to when the tour was done and we had the option of going up all the way, we decided not to go up all the way as we were high enough already.
On the way back to where the metro was we each got a cartoon drawing of ourselves by the Eiffel Tower.  Then we went on a 2 level marry-go-round.  We also took pictures by a nice fountain.
 I figured out how to navigate the metro and bring us to a famous street in Paris...Champs-Elysees.  We enjoyed a lunch at a cafe on that street and discussed what to do next.  We then took the metro back to the hotel so we could pack up for the plane tomorrow because we would be getting picked up by the shuttle first thing in the morning.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a bakery to get treats for later in the evening.
When we were done packing we went to dinner at a nice restraint that smelled wonderful by the hotel.  I had some french onion soup as well as Anniek, we decided that we like my Dad's french onion soup better.  We also found out what smelled so good...it was escargot and we each tried one of Joann's escargots.
When we were done we stopped back at the hotel to grab our snacks and put milk that we bought at a grocery store into water bottles to drink with our snacks.  We took the metro back to the Eiffel Tower and found a spot to sit and relax and watch the Eiffel Tower and eat our snacks.  We bartered for a LOT of Eiffel Tower key chains...enough for our family and all of Anniek's class.
At about 9:30pm the lights on the Eiffel Tower turned on and at 10:00pm the Eiffel Tower started to twinkle like it does every day starting at 10pm and it lasts for 5 minutes then continues to do it every hour on the hour all night.  We got our pictures and video clips then headed back to the metro and to our hotel. 
 At the hotel we each had a shower before bed as we have a long trip tomorrow.



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