Paris, Day 3, Afternoon--10/2/12

Remember that I said WALKING was the word of the day?  I guess I really should have used CLIMBING, too, and you're about to find out why...  (I know you've been on the edge of your seats to find out.)

After we had our baguettes in the park, we set out on the Metra to conquer two of Paris' most famous landmarks: the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.

I have to admit, I wasn't too fussed with seeing/going up the Arc de Triomphe...until we got there.  We came up out of the Metra (which was once again extremely efficient and pleasant), and there it was: rising up behind a roundabout with hundreds of cars zooming past.

 It was grand.  We whipped out our handy, dandy Paris Museum Pass again and started spiraling our way to the top.  There was one huge spiral staircase all the way to the top, and I kept my head down and just kept plodding along.  If I had looked up, I would have been depressed at how much further we had to go.  This method made the 294 steps not that bad at all...I was only wheezing a little bit when we got to the top!  And, this vantage point gave us the best view of the Eiffel Tower yet.

 

We took our time up there, hung out, tolerated a few student groups (oh, so cute and loud and vivacious), and then descended...ready to take on our next walk.  Oh, here I am resting a bit and hiding from a student group...from Australia maybe?

It was a lovely walk to the Eiffel Tower.  We ambled on over and took the elevator to the tip top...not Level 1, not Level 2, the TOP!  As we were riding the elevator, all I could think of was Superman II: I kept waiting to see Supes come rescue our elevator from those crazy terrorists...who cause terror...and put hydrogen bombs on the Eiffel Tower elevators.  We were okay, though.

I loved being up there.  It was beautiful.  I thought of my Grandad a lot: he wouldn't have liked it too much.  Martin and I took pictures next to the height sign just for him.  ;)

Martin wanted to walk down the stairs to the bottom so badly, and who was I to say  no?  He just wanted to be in amongst the iron of this powerful emblem of France, and he was so excited to be going down those steps and touching the beams.

After all of this walking, I was starving.  We made it to a cute little bistro called les cocottes: Christian Constant, started by one of Paris' renowned chefs, Christian Constant.  (So it's not just a clever name.)  Think of a cocotte as a mini-slow cooker: the meal's brought out to you in this wee cooker after being slowly cooked and perfected for hours.

But, seeing that I was starving and had burned more calories than I had eaten that day, I ate way too quickly, started to feel sick, and had to rush our little post Tower meal.  :(  I hope Hubby forgives me...one day.

My upset tummy was nothing a good night's sleep couldn't fix.  I was ship shape the next morning and ready for...LA PETIT CARDINAL!  Til next time...




P.S.  Pop Culture Count at 3!  If you didn't guess that I would reference Superman II while talking about a trip to PARIS...shame on you.