The Eiffel Tower

After we checked into our hotel, Travis and I were driven by two needs. Food, and the desire to make the most of our short time in Paris. We took the metro south to the Champs Elysees/Clemenceau stop, and during the ride, we decided to walk to see the Eiffel tower. Most of the museums and other attractions would be closed, it seemed like something that we could do no matter what the time.

We climbed the stairs up to the street, to find the sun sinking as we walked between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais (believe me, small is a relative term here) towards the Seine. All of the buildings were bathed in a glowing, warm light, and we had to zig zag along the sidewalk as hordes of tourists took advantage of the last light to take one last group photo. The bridge we picked to walk over the Seine was very dramatic. It arched over the river (The Seine is bigger than I thought it would be, Travis commented, delighted) on the other side we could see the Hotel des Invalides, which is a complex of truly grand buildings. And on our right, we got our first peek at the Eiffel tower through the trees, already lit for the evening!

This brought us to the next great question: What does a starving vegetarian eat in Paris? I studied the hand-written menus outside of each restaurant we passed, but either I couldn't tell what exactly they were serving, the place seemed very expensive, or both. Increasingly low blood sugar made it harder for my brain to try to figure out what each menu offered, until with great relief we came to a deli-style Asian food place where we could make our selections by pointing, and all of the prices looked very good. "Je voudrais le riz au curry" Travis said, pointing at the curried rice, and sure enough, they got a spoon...Then they asked us a question which neither of us understood. Wondering if they were asking us how big of a portion, I gestured with an inquisitive look on my face. They repeated themselves, and I realized there were asking us if we wanted to take out, or eat there. "Ici!" I replied, amazed that I had figured it out. We finally settled down to some curried rice, vegetable chop suey, shrimp, and two egg rolls for only a little more than 20 Euros.

Much improved, we walked the rest of the way to the tower, which looks even prettier at night than during the day. There are three platforms to visit, and each one is a different price and amount of waiting time. We decided to splurge and go all the way to the top, figuring that when we go back to Paris, we will probably be occupied with other things. Travis and I held hands while we waited at the bottom for the elevator to the second platform, where we would wait to go to the top. Somewhat less romantic were the signs informing us in four languages to watch out for pick pockets. Stepping out onto the second level, I wondered if we should have spent the extra money to go all the way to the top. The view just from the second floor was amazing! All of Paris was spread out before us, lights blazing! Travis and I leaned against the railings with our map on each side, identifying landmarks (the Arc de Triomphe was certainly easy) and taking pictures of the view.

The line to go all the way to the top was about twenty minutes. As each elevator came, people rushed to cram in, sometimes shrugging as they were separated from the rest of their party by a closing door. We finally managed to elbow our way into a car. It started to rise...and rise...and--Oh my god, this thing is really a lot taller than it looks from the ground! A cold wind was picking up, and I could actually feel the tower swaying back and forth with each gust.
"This is fun!" Travis said, as stepped out of the elevator, and suddenly were much higher. I find heights mildly vertiginous, so I think "thrilling" is the word I would use.

I'll try to post the pictures of us at the top later today. I think we both look pretty thrilled. After that, we walked down to the first level from the second level, took the train back to the hotel, and had some Belgian chocolate, with a bottle of champagne that we had saved after our wedding. I'll tell you about our trip to the Louvre next!