Bastille Day

July 14
After adventuring to Versaille, we came back to Paris and met up again with the Carlson Whites, who had arrived via car from Chamonix and Dordone, where they reported great times and the near purchase of a retirement cottage (yet another thing Rick Steves' books get right. In fact, just go to his site: www.ricksteves.com and get it over with; Rick is the only to go in Europe). We made plans for a not too early start the next day to see the Eiffel Tower. As it happened, the 8:30 wake up time came a bit early, as we have realized we are getting weary; all this fun for such an extended periods wears you down. We ride the RER train to the "Tour Eiffel" stop, climbed out into bright sun blinking, and saw the top of the tower peeking above the apartment building nearby. We walked around and Voila!

What a structure! It is so massive. We waited in line for the stairs, watched French military aircraft fly by in formation (Bastille Day!), and saw heavy police presence. After paying for our tickets, we climbed to the first level, where Julia mailed a couple of postcards in the post office there. We then climbed to the second level, then Brendan, Rollie and the four kids rode the elevator up to the very top, while Annie, Christe and Dick went down to level one for sanwiches and beer. While waiting in line after enjoying the view at the top, Julia and Owen were overheard discussing colleges they expect to attend; Owen plans on Cal or Stanford, and Julia says Harvard (with a year abroad in Paris at Sorbonne), then U.C. Davis for vet school. The woman in front of us in line, from Mississippi, expressed shock when she turned around and saw the age of the kids talking. She said she couldn't get her kids to consider college. I said we always encourage them to dream big.

Eiffel Tower looking down from level one

French Military Helicopters in formation over Paris Hi!
The four kids at the very tippy top, nearly 1,000 feet up!
Jenny's gelato face
More views from the top of the Eiffel Tower



After visiting the very top, we all came back down to level one for lunch. It was wonderful; warm, but not hot, the sun was out but we were shaded, the food was great, and it was surprisingly uncrowded. I contemplated catching a pigeon in mid-flight, which is entirely possible given their acclimatization to people there, but decided it wasn't worth the effort.

After lunch, we parted ways and took the train to the Musee D'Orsay stop, then walked to L'Orangerie, which houses the really big Monet Water Lillies (two rooms of them),
plus a large collection of other famous Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings. We spent about 25 minutes in the place (thanks to our Museum Passes), and left satisfied we'd seen the good stuff. Then we went home and took much needed naps.

We rounded out the day with a big family dinner for nine outside at Le Twickenham, a great restaurant on Blvd. St. Germain de Pres. A beautiful way to end a wonderful day in one of the greatest cities in the world.