If you clicked on the above link, you probably noticed that we took lots of pictures with the Eiffel Tower, but we did not actually go up the Tower. On this trip, we made it our goal to go up the Tower! As we walked from our hotel to the Eiffel Tower, we stumbled across the Royal Palace Gardens.
The garden was so relaxing that we decided to sit and take a break in the shade.
Since Paris is a very "artsy" city, I also stumbled across some art.
Upgrading my picture partner.
Needless to say, the weather was much warmer on this trip than our previous visit. The fountains outside the Louvre looked so refreshing that we decided to take another break and stick our feet in the water.
After walking along the Seine River, for what felt like several miles, we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower.
Somehow, I was able to talk Maria into climbing the tower! Based on her big smile, I think I took this picture of her on the way down.
The tower actually has three levels. This picture was taken on the first level, about one-fourth of the way to the top, but lots of steps from the ground.
After we finally made it to the second level, about half-way to the top.
Fortunately, the views of the city made it a fantastic place to take a long break!
We were both happy to be able to take a break and enjoy the amazing views.
Maria is trying to point at a person on the ground to give you an idea of the view from the tower. The people looked like ants.
As you can see, we were still a long way from the top. Unfortunately, the elevator line to the top was extremely long, so we decided to skip the very top.
After descending the tower, we hopped on the subway to Montemarte in order to catch the sunset over the city. In order to reach the Sacre-Coeur for the best views of the city, we had to climb a few more steps.
The extra climbing was well worth the effort.
After a good night's sleep, we had planned for the next two days of our trip to be spent exploring the city's many museums. As we attempted to purchase a two-day museum pass, the store clerk informed us that all museums would be closed the following day due to Labor Day! This was an inconvenient surprise, but even more puzzling, since the next day was a Sunday. As a result, the only museum we were able to visit was the Louvre. We need a whole blog post just to share all of our Louvre pictures, so I'm going to skip ahead to our last day in Paris.
Outside the Notre-Dame cathedral.
Inside the Notre-Dame cathedral.
The cathedral's twin towers and the "Kings of Judah" statues. These statues represent the biblical kings of Judah, but were mistaken for the French kings during the French Revolution. Keeping with the guillotine craze of the day, the citizens stormed the cathedral and decapitated each of the kings.
Maria enjoying the cathedral's flying butresses.
Some very Parisian-looking apartments.
We quickly realized that the French Labor Day was a blessing in disguise, because we were really able to enjoy and experience the ambience of the city. Here, Maria is demonstrating how to best enjoy the ambience of the Tuileries Garden.
Maria took this picture from the Louvre courtyard, one of our favorite spots to relax in Paris.
Finally, we also relaxed by the Seine River with one of Maria's Parisian friends, Elo.
Catch your breath, because the Louvre blog is next...
