Our first full day in Paris. Heather had been dying to see and go to the top of the Eiffel Tower so that was first on our agenda. We headed off as soon as we were ready in the morning to try and beat the queues which can be horrendous for the Eiffel Tower, however getting across Paris is never easy and with two kids it was a little harder so beating the queues was never really going to happen. We took two metro trains that Heather and Callum thought were pretty cool and emerged from the underground a short walk from the monument. When Heather first caught sight of the tower her eyes nearly popped out of her head. All she could say was "wow". The weather forecast had predicted a clear morning perfect for the tower but it was cloudy and foggy. After seeing Heather's excitement and jumping up and down we couldn't postpone it so we joined the shortish queue to catch the lift, first to the second floor then on to the top.
I'd hate to see this monument on a busy day as after queuing for the tickets, then queuing for the lift and having a quick look at the view from the second floor, we then joined another queue for the lift to the top floor.
In my old age I have developed a slight fear for anything that isn't really natural/normal. Like going on gondolas that swing over ridiculously high valleys, and going up a lift in a metal monument that was supposed to be temporary that points 200+ metres in the sky. Bravely for the kids I went up. The views from the top were incredible and we were seriously high on a metal tower that you could feel swaying, but it was an experience we had to have. We had a look at the views then thankfully the queue was small to get back down. After hitting solid ground we had lunch looking at the tower from across the Seine.
We then walked a short distance to the Arc de Triomphe which didn't get the wow factor from the kids.
We then headed off down the Champs Elysee in search of a tourist bureau to plan our next few days. I got booked to go on a tour of Monet's Gardens tomorrow for a relaxing kids-free afternoon, and got the tickets for a surprise for the kids which will be revealed later. It was a lovely day in my favourite city.
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