Paris Day 4

Mandy:

Today was Eiffel Tower day! We made reservations for the 58 Tour de Eiffel restaurant at 9pm. There are two seatings, one at 6pm and 9pm. In the summer the later seating allows you to see the sunset.

We actually ended up walking all the way there from our apartment, which was a 5km walk. (We love to walk...) But we took breaks inbetween. We went to the Musee D'Orsay which was more of a contemporary art museum compared to the Louvre. The museum was much smaller but we have seen enough art for our trip. Out of all three museums we've seen we like the Van Gogh museum the best.

Norman in front of the Musee D'Orsay

We also stumbled upon the Hotel de Invalides on our walk to the Eiffel Tower. It was where the injured soliders stayed after the war. There was a big cathedral and it housed the tomb of Napoleon.

In front of the Hotel de Invalides / Army Museum

By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower it was quite early and dinner was hours away. Therefore, we decided to lounge at a cafe and share a three course meal. The escargot, steak frites, and apple tart were surprisingly delicious.

Steak frites and escargot 

After our snack we made out way to the Eiffel Tower and hung out at the park in the sun for a few hours before our reservations. There were tons of people... Locals and tourists. Norm ended up falling asleep and now his face is a bit burnt and he has a sunglasses tan.. Hehe

Norm checking out the Eiffel Tower.... and the group of girls in front 

Art-sy (aka sepia tone) picture of Mandy in front of the Eiffel Tower

Two hours before dinner we decided to get tickets and climb the tower. Good thing we had reservations at the restaurant because we got to skip the ENORMOUS line. Totally worth not waiting more than an hour. We took an eleator up to the first floor where the restaurant is and climbed the never ending steps to the second floor (we didn't know there was another elevator). The view of Paris was beautiful especially because we explored a lot of the city so we could locate all of the major attractions. We didn't pay an extra €5 to go to the peak since there was yet another line and the view would be somewhat the same.

Difficult to find good lighting on the Eiffel Tower 

Part of the crazy long queue to get up to the Eiffel Tower

Mandy looking at the peak of the Eiffel Tower

As expected the food at the restaurant was not spectacular but the experience was definitely unique. We had a three course meal with two glasses of wine and a glass of champagne each. We also started talking to the mother and daughter table next to ours. They were from California and loved wine.They even poured a a glass of wine from their bottle for Norm. That translates to 5 glasses of wine and 2 glasses of champagne for Norman! Someone got a bit tipsy :P

Norm and his profiterole 

Mandy and her Himalayan dessert

After a long day we headed home. People on the streets were going a bit wild. Turns out Spain won the Eurocup finals. Too bad we weren't in Spain for the celebration.