PARIS

Well, we made it through Paris. 

We conquered the underground! Our first morning out, we headed over to the Tour Eiffel...took the underground and got off at the right station. Of course, we still had to walk about 1/2 mile to get to the base, but before that we stopped at Carrete Cafe for breakfast. 

Delicious hot chocolate and pastries for me (9,50E), coffee and a cheese sandwich for Betty and Anna(13E), and Quiche Lorraine for Regina (15E).

We headed over to the Tower for our tour and eventually go the the top. It was a breathtaking view, even with the overcast skies.

After the tour, we got the hop-on, hop-off bus to see the sites of the city, including The Arc, Notre Dame, and all the rest. The first thing we did was to take the metro to the Eiffel Tower. Another first for Betty and she handled it marvelously. It was great to see her expression as we rounded the corner and saw the Tower in all it’s glory. We had tickets to ‘skip the line’ which saved a lot of time and got a great history lesson of the tower. After our guide was finished we were able to take the elevator to the top and even though it was overcast, it was a wonderful view.

After the tower, we did the hop-on hop-off bus to get an overview of the city, going past the Louvre, Notre Dame and all the other sites of the city. After a full day, we had dinner at an …. Italian … restaurant, headed back to the room to get ready for the next day. Anna decided to stay with Regina until Regina’s daughter got into town so we were on our own.

The second day we continued on the hop-on, hop-off and then just walked around checking everything out. Dinner, again, at our newest,  favorite Italian restaurant.

The next day we tried to get into Notre Dame, but the line was just too long and we had to be at the Louvre for our afternoon tour. A very informative guide, we got to see the Mona Lisa, Venus, Nike, and many of the famous oils on display. She explained about the 5 pyramids and later we were taken downstairs where we saw what was discovered during the 1980s excavation which unearthed the original keep, moat, and wall.

After the Louvre we definitely needed to rest, so we stopped in at a café for wine and cheese. I then headed back to a little shop that I found where I bought a duffle bag, since my clothes seemed to be multiplying expotentially. So now I’m dragging around 2 big suitcases, Betty has my small one and I have her small one inside my big one. And I have a backpack …. Someday I’ll learn.

We headed back to the Tower so Betty could see it lit up…it was quite a sight and on the hour the lights sparkle for 10 minutes. Thank you Paris for a wonderful four days.

On to Lausanne.