Eiffel Tower... Take 2.

Redemption!

Yesterday's post left you at the top of the Arc de Triomphe... but didn't leave you hanging ;-)

We met up with Daddy and Miss C almost exactly on time on the steps of Napoleon's Tomb.

He went into the military museum with a local friend and the older three kids while Miss C chased pigeons for a solid hour.

When they came out, Q-Man force-fed me chocolate... or maybe tried to steal my chocolate... in any event, here is a much-requested picture of me :)

The local friend took this great picture of all of us... I think it is the only one so far of the whole family on this trip.

Then he drove us to the Eiffel Tower. It was AWESOME to get a ride right up to as close as you can get in a car! We crammed into his cute little Nissan and made it work. He was such a kind and generous and accommodating guy... he gets un grand 'merci' :)

 Then it was time to queue up for the tickets...

here's the view up from the line...

We finally had our tickets and needed to then wait for the first elevator...

and watch out for the pickpockets!

 We made it up to the second floor and took in the sights...

 Big G was pretty excited!

 Then we had to wait another 45 minutes to get on the elevator to go to the top!

Everyone went a little stir-crazy ;-)

The elevator was JAMMED!

You can barely see Q-Man's head between all the elbows and shoulders.

After goofing around on the super crowded top level for a while and watching the city lights come on below us... which was really lovely... we headed back down to the bottom. The crowds going down were much smaller, thankfully and understandably.

 And then it was time for ice cream!

We then walked 20+ minutes to the Métro and finally got home at about 11 p.m. Everyone was happy and exhausted. No separations, no vomiting, no picking of pockets. It was a success.

We needed some fun...

After our ill-fated Eiffel Tower-NOT adventure the other night, we needed some fun.

The kids wanted to "see stuff." We talked about what "stuff" they wanted to see. We made a list and a plan. And a contingency plan. And a fall-back in case the contingency plan failed. And on that list was still...

the Eiffel Tower.

The plan consisted of bopping around town all afternoon, not necessarily going in any places but seeing them. Going in was possible but not required. After seeing what they could see, see, see... we would meet up with Dad and Miss C at a set time at a set place. That was the basic plan... I am not going to go into all the contingency fall-back crap 'cuz we didn't need it :) From there, we would go see the Eiffel Tower.

First up... the Stravinsky Fountain at the Georges Pompidou Centre...

We ate lunch while looking at the colorful figures moving in and over the water.

Bummer was they were not spraying.

Then we went to find Nicolas Flamel's auberge (if you are into Harry Potter, this will make some sense to you). I forgot the directions at the house, but we did find the very tiny streets named after him and his wife at this intersection...

 His wife.

 Him.

 And the boys played some funny chanting, clapping game...

sort of like ro-sham-bo...

but in French... duh.

There were some gorgeous signs of spring in the little park at the base of that tower...

Then we went to Notre Dame... and went inside...

Very cool wooden scale model of the cathedral...

incredibly detailed and amazing.

 Super interesting model of how the cathedral was built back in

the whatever hundreds...

 And STILL HAVING FUN!

this was not a 

"mom dragged us all over the friggin' place"

kind of day...

they wanted to do this and had FUN!

What next? you ask...

But of course...

Sacré-Cœur... the Ice Cream Cone Church!

We did not walk up to it. I tried to talk them into it so I could double-up the stairs work for the day, but they were just not into it at all.

 Q-Man wanted to ride this carousel soooooo badly...

but it was 3 euros! 

and Big G pointed out the the horses looked like they were screaming in pain...

so we said "no" to animal cruelty ;-)

Would you agree with Big G's observation?

To celebrate our triumphantly fun day, we decided that the Arc de Triomphe was a good place to go...

First, they had to fight over the telescope...

which I wouldn't give them any money for.

Got the mega-stairs workout in... 

and NO ONE COMPLAINED!!!!

Baby X took a pic of Q-Man and mommy :)

And I got one of all the kids looking still like they are at least kind of having fun ;-)

pretty sure the spikes are suicide- and homicide-prevention... 

clearly not for aesthetics.

Then we walked down the stairs and went to meet Daddy and Miss C... very close to on time and within the original plan's parameters.

The day's next chapter to follow shortly. Time for bed. Well, past time for bed.

Bonne nuit!