La Tour Eiffel

I have been fascinated by the Eiffel Tower for as long as I can remember.

Today, we went aaallll the way to the top!

We took the elevator, of course.

Paris looked so cool from up there.

It was a bit overcast this morning, but the sun came out later in the day.

Looking up (from the second floor).

It took us about an hour to walk from our apartment to the Eiffel Tower. It would have taken less time if I'd had a map or knew exactly where I was going. But I'm all for exploring...

On the walk back, we took a different route and saw lots of lovely things.

Le Grand Palais (now an exhibition hall):

et le Petit Palais (an art museum):

Winston Churchill greeted us:

Another view of the Eiffel Tower:

The Place de la Concorde:

We stopped for a rest by a fountain at the Tuileries Gardens:

We also saw this not-so-pretty sight: a shantytown right on the banks of the Seine River in what looked like a quite affluent neighbourhood (along the Quai D'Orsay).

That kind of poverty juxtaposed with such luxury makes me sad. I cheered myself up a little with a visit to a pet store and a JRT fix. I miss my Wild Things!

Then we went home and made spaghetti for dinner (because, you know, I didn't get enough pasta when I was in Italy) and we ended the evening with a stroll up the Boulevard St. Michel, looking in shop windows and making plans to browse around the area tomorrow. Of course Sandi got a crepe. She's on the one-a-day plan. I have yet to eat one... when I get the urge, I will not try to resist the temptation.

We also have HOT WATER! Hurray! No more cold showers (like the previous two nights). The plumber came and fixed the hot water heater today. We did have the use of that other apartment around the corner, but we didn't take advantage of it, preferring instead to stay in our little attic abode.

Bonne nuit, mes amis...