Last Day in Paris

We traveled on the TGV (the bullet train) from Aix-en-provence to Paris and arrived to find warm cloudy weather.  Quite different from the sunny warm of southern France.  We thought we might catch one last look at the Eiffel Tower so we caught a subway there.  When we got off the subway we were challenged to present our ticket.  Because we kept confusing used tickets with new ones we got the habit of throwing away the old ticket.  Well...don't.  The subway police accosted us and made us pay a fine on the spot for not having a ticket with us.  Curious that there is no sign in English, only French, and they only positioned themselves at the Eiffel exit.  Do I smell a tourist trap? 

We got to the Eiffel and climbed up to the second level.  Quite a haul up there.  669 steps.  All of our stair climbing the past two weeks had been in training for this.  It is the way to go in order to avoid the long lines. 














From there we caught one of the elevators to the top.  The view was fine with all of Paris laid out below us.

We knew the next day was a long one so we had dinner and retired early.

We hope you have enjoyed our little story about two Mid-westerners traveling to Europe.  It was a great experience and we hope you can make it there someday and enjoy it as much as we did. We will do one final post about some of our impressions.   Au revoir!

We'll always have Paris......

34 Rue du Fer a Moulin

Well, unlike Humphrey Bogart, we are actually in Paris and it is wonderful.  We are now over the jet lag and are exploring all the sights and sounds and food of France.

We are staying in a small (by American standards) flat in Paris, and you can see the alleyway of our entrance in this picture.  We are in an area called Jardines du Plantes (#5) which is nice and quiet.  Metro lines are close and we can travel across Paris in minutes.  We have seen parts of the Louvre Museum and Saint Chapelle today.  The food is fantastic, and pricey.  Ah, the life of the traveller!  Below we have added a few pictures for you to enjoy!

Restaurant La Rose de France

Small restaurants are everywhere and contrary to what you may read, the staff are friendly and very understanding of travellers who don't speak French.

The Pyramid of the Louvre

The Louvre is truly one of the wonders of the world with its art and history.  We hardly scratched the surface.  It would take weeks to see it all as it is one of the largest museums in the world.  There is so much to see in Paris that we had to move on.

St. Germaine-Des-Pres

The stained glass is some of the best in the world as you can see here.

















We hope you enjoy the blog and photos.  Please let us know you have visited.

Tom and Candy