When we arrived we were hungry so even though it was late we headed out for dinner. Then since we were so close to the Eiffel Tower we walked up to it to take pictures. We debated about checking on tickets to go to the top but decided to wait until the next night. More on that later...
At night every hour on the hour it sparkles for 5 mins!
So pretty! Click the video below to watch it! :)
In the morning after eating crepes at a french cafe we stumbled upon "Love Lock Bridge!" It is a bridge completely covered with padlocks which lovers have locked to the bridge and thrown away the key into the river! Of course we thought this was very neat and had to buy a lock to do this ourselves!
Finding the right place for our lock...
Throwing away the key!
After we were done at the bridge we decided to take the Paris hop on' hop off bus tour! We were able to sit on the top open area of the bus. It was a little chilly but a great way to see the different areas of the city without having to walk between them. We had headphones that played nice classical music along our tour and told us different facts and history about what we were seeing. Here we are near Notre Dame Cathedral...
The detailed architecture and sculptures in Paris are incredible everywhere you look...
The Arc de Triomphe was especially amazing!
Back past the Eiffel Tower in the daylight!
After the bus tour we quickly found a place to eat lunch and warm up from being out in the cold on the bus. Then Paul and Angie went to tour the Lourve and since Brian and I had been there on the high school trip we decided to wander the city instead. We started out by going back to Notre Dame to take a closer look. The line was extremely long so we didn't go inside.
From here we explored a bit more and before long the sun was setting beautifully over the Seine.
Paris really is a pretty romantic city!
After meeting back up with Paul and Angie we had dinner at an Italian restaurant in the Latin quarter. Then we went back to the Eiffel Tower and planned to try to go up to the top. Turns out when we got there the line looked short but that's because they had already sold the maximum tickets for people who would be able to get through the line before it closed. It was disappointing because Paul and Angie were really hoping to go at night. (Brian and I had gone before at night also on the high school trip.) So in the morning we got there close to when it opened at 9:45AM... only to find MASSES of people! There was a line formed but it snaked around back and forth completely filling the entire area under the tower. We finally found what we thought to be the end while Paul went up to try to find out if we were in the right place. When he came back he said, "Good news and bad news... good news, we are in the right line... bad news, the wait is approx. 4 hours!" Angie was crushed because this was on the top of her list to do in Paris and it was our last day there (luckily we weren't leaving until 9:00pm) They debated what to do but even though it was freezing cold and windy they decided to wait it out for the entire time! Ended up being 4 1/2 hours by the time they got down from the tour! So glad they were able to do it though! We found out that people began lining up at 4am since it was so busy with travelers that time of year. Guess we will know next time we go to get tickets in advance... Yikes! Meanwhile Brian and I walked around to see more of the sites from the bus tour up close.
And to finish off Paris... A warm delicious bowl of french onion soup and fresh baguettes!
We left on the Eurostar train to travel back to London that evening (Dec 30th) and gear up for New Years! (Blog on that to follow soon!)
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