The Eiffel Tower

Day 3 in Paris - Eiffel Tower

View from the Hotel

This is what we saw as we left our hotel each of the 4 days that we stayed in Paris! The Eiffel Tower was right around the corner. It was a bit of a walk, but that is what you do in Paris! It really is an amazing sight as you walk towards it. I knew it was big, but it was much bigger than I expected it to be.

Eiffel Tower
On our 3rd day in Paris, we took a tour of the Eiffel Tower early that morning. Jos, our tour guide, suggested that we do that early to beat the crowds, and he was right. We thought it opened at 9:00 am, so we were there in line a little before that, but it actually didn't open until 9:30. So we had to wait a little bit, but we were close to the front of the line. But as we were leaving the tower around 11:00 the lines were very long. So if you want to tour the Eiffel Tower I recommend that you go early to beat the crowds. Note: We also went later on our last day and watched the sunset from the restaurant in the tower! It was an amazing night!

Third Level View

View from the same level, other direction.

You can walk up the steps to the first level, but we chose to ride the elevator. There is a gift shop and a restaurant on the second and third levels. The next level is the top.

View from the top

If heights bother you, you may want to skip the top. Heights do not bother, so I loved it! One lady was having her picture made, and she obviously was afraid of heights, because she would not let go of the steel beam that she was standing beside, and that was on the 3rd level! I don't know if she went up to the top.

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

As you can see, they have wire fencing to enclose the space. I suppose it is to prevent people from jumping. Actually there were 2 levels on the top. There is a set of steps that take to to the very top section where is was pretty crowded. Each level is smaller than the last.

Next Up: The Musee d'Orsay visit.

Visit to Notre Dame and the Louvre Museum

Day 2

There is so much to do in Paris alone, but we only had 3 days in Paris. Our first half day, we walked around the Eiffel Tower and visited the Tomb of Napoleon. we spent the morning of the next day touring Paris on a bus that ended at the Notre Dame Cathedral. Our British tour bus guide, Julian, was very interesting and was quite entertaining. At the Notre Dame Cathedral, he gave a very interesting explanation of the frieze on the front of the Cathedral. I couldn't begin to explain everything that he told us about the meaning of those sculptures that are so beautifully created for the West Facade of the building. That would require an entire blog post.

After we finished admiring Notre Dame, we had lunch then moved on to the Louvre. Now that could have been an all-day outing for me, but we only had a few hours to take in what we could. Someday I would like to return for more time there. 

We only went through a small part of the museum. Some of the works that we saw were the "Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques Louis David. It is quite a large painting and my photo does not show it very well. There is an interesting story behind the painting and the artist. You can read more about the painting here: Wikipedia. I did learn from the tour that there is an identical painting at Versaille, that we saw later in our trip, that appears the same except one of the ladies on the left wears a pink dress!

"The Coronation of Napoleon" by Jacques-Louis David

And of course, The Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, is a big attraction at the Louvre. The room was so crowded with people around the rope barrier that holds the crowd back from getting too close the glass-encased painting. Apparently, this painting was stolen back in 1911, and was found 2 years later and returned to the museum. You can read more about Leonardo da Vinci's favorite painting here: Wikipedia. And on this site, you can read more about the painting.

After a long day of touring these sights, we had a nice meal at an "Italian" restaurant! Not French, but I believe most of the group enjoyed the spaghetti and veal.


Up Next: The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower and the Musee De L'Armee Tombeau de Napoleon

Lunch at the base of the Eiffel Tower

After our long flight, we arrived early Tuesday morning in Paris. After we dropped our luggage off at the Hotel, we immediately started our tour of Paris. The group that I was with, consisted of 12 teenagers and 2 adults (including me). We were all tired from the all-night flight, but were very ready to start looking around the city. Our hotel was only blocks from the base of the Eiffel Tower, so that is where we started. We bought lunch in a local grocery store and had a picnic in the park next to the Eiffel Tower. It was nice to sit and relax, but the weather was a little cool and there were alot of small school children at the park. Apparently it was Eiffel Tower day with the local schools.

Museum of the Tomb of Napoleon

After we left the park, we walked to the nearby Museum of the Tomb of Napoleon. Here we looked around inside and out. The tomb of Napoleon was very interesting, but everyone in our group was getting extremely tired from the long flight and lack of sleep. It was finally late enough for us to check in to our hotel, so we returned to unpack and clean up before dinner at the Hotel.

After dinner, some of us decided to take a walk to the Eiffel Tower to get some evening pictures of the Eiffel Tower. As we were leaving the Hotel, it started to drizzle. We went anyway and eventually it did stop raining, but it was very chilly. By the time we returned to the Hotel, we were ready for a warm bed! The ones that did not go on the walk, had already gone to bed. This busy day was only the beginning of our very busy, hectic days to come.

Up Next:  Notre Dame and The Louvre.