The day began by walking down the Eiffel Tower, waiting in a queue for 1 hour (which is apparently pretty good!) and catching the elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view was absolutely breathtaking. Michael was scared of heights (and Chris confided to me that he is too), but we all decided to take a second elevator to the Summit anyway. You could see for miles, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and everyone agreed that it was a total highlight of our time in Paris.
Because the kids ( and let’s face it, us too) we’re completely shagged we took the afternoon off. Such a beautiful and hot day, so we strolled down to the local shops in Rue de Commerce, bought some SIM card for our phones, and had a cup of coffee in the sun watching the gorgeous Parisians stroll past.
Late in the afternoon we took the metro to the Jardin Des Tuileries. Chris and I counted out the last of our money for the day (22 euros) which was just enough to buy a baguette for each of us (yes more baguette!) and sit under a tree and soak up the peace and relaxation.
We then strolled to the Lourvre next door, walked straight in (no queues!!!) bought an audio tour and spent the next three hours wandering the gallery. I cannot describe in words how magnificent and overwhelming the gallery is in very way. Everywhere you turn there is an amazing masterpiece (Bottecelli, Da Vinci) , the ceilings are decorated in amazing frescos and the salles lead on one from another. If we had a week it wouldn’t have been enough time there. We thought we’d pop into the Egyptian Exhibition for half an hour, but a day wouldn’t have been long enough here. Whereas Melbourne has one, decaying and sad looking mummy, the Lourvre has dozens and they come from different periods in time and you can look at them all at once. The kids were dying to leave after a couple of hours and Chris was nearly beside himself with disappointment at having to leave – he keeps saying we will return and soon!
The day finished with a stroll along the Seine as the sun set (around 1030pm) and a train ride home. My feet were so sore that I was limping and hobbling like a crippled old lady.
