Well, we rolled out of the apartment with a plan to hit the Poilane bakery right across from our apartment only to find a sign that we interpreted as 'on the seventh day the baker rests'. So we hit one of the big two names just up the way on St. Germain des Pres. We looked at Cafe deux Magots and Cafe de Flore before settling on Cafe de Flore. These two cafes are famous for their clientele of writers, philosophers, and artists of the 1920's. These are the inspirations for the cafe in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris.
Here I snap a quick picture of Cindy and the girls walking by Cafe de Flore.
After breakfast, we walk to Musee d'Orsay, but at that point it was almost 11:00. I told you we were rolling out later and later. So we decided instead of going into the museum, we would go ahead and make our way over to the Eiffel Tower. We grab the RER line and go to Champ de Mars. I had tried to buy tickets before we left, but the website said they had mechanical issues with one elevator so had reduced the ticket availability. In fact, there were no advanced tickets available for the duration of our stay in Paris. However, the first night we were here I happened to check back and lo' and behold they had tickets available for Aug 19 at noon. A hot time, but we had tickets in hand (mobile phone email) finally.
So we got off the RER and before me stood the beast.
Man... now that we had tickets to the top, it seemed to get taller. It doesn't help that almost all buildings in Paris are 7 or 8 stories tall, and even then there are no buildings close to the tower. If you can't tell, I have an intense fear of heights.
We pretty much go right in with our purchased ticket where the other line wound and wound and wound around. OK, St. Peter's Basilica in Rome was ~137m or ~450 feet. So hey, I should be OK to at least the second level where we have to change elevators to get to the top (sommet).
Here are the girls at the second story, ~115m (~380 feet) up. I said a small prayer asking for Bailley to be so scared that she won't want to go higher and I'd do the chivalrous thing and stay with her. No luck. OK, so here's my knew thinking. So, second level is really high... so how much higher can ~276m (~910 feet) feel? I mean, high is high, right? Let's go.
Well, let me tell you. I know math says the top is roughly 2.4 times higher than the second level, but it's not. It's more like 400 times higher. From the ground (ie. way away from the top) the steel structure looks 1. beautiful and 2. fairly thickly knitted all the way up. However, once in the elevator, when the structure started thinning to approximately 4 elevator widths, the structure appeared to be 2 pieces of spindly steel riveted together in 1889. But we get there and hey it's not thaaaaat bad. What? There's a terrace? OK, so up the stairs to the terrance. What next? Do I climb the antennae on top next? It didn't help that at the top the stainless tread plate flooring was warped and kept buckling. I know someone somewhere was watching me and laughing: don't care. It took me a minute to get used to things, but we got some good pictures and walked entirely around the top.
The best snapshot of all of course.
On the way down, when we stopped at the second level, we decided to walk the stairs down, all 704 of them. It was easy coming down and provided a great and different view of the tower.
After the tower, we made our way back to Musee d'Orsay. We grabbed a bite for lunch in their cafe, which happened to be right behind the clock visible from outside. Very cool.
And their terrace was a great place for a family snapshot. That's the Seine and the Louvre in the background. Then we quickly went through the exhibits we wanted to see.
Abigail and Bailley in front of one of our favorite Monet's.
But I think everyone's favorites were the Van Gogh's. Here was a quick snap of Starry Night over the Rhone before the attendant told me that all the signs that say no photography meant I couldn't take pictures... oh, those signs.
I think the last thing on our list for today, IFF everyone can stay up for it, is to see the hourly twinkling lights on the Eiffel Tower. It gets dark after 9:00 so we haven't even seen that yet and tonight or tomorrow night is our last chance. Ouch, the Paris leg and sabbatical is starting to wane. Until then, I have some cheese and wine to finish up.
Bonne nuit!
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