June 20th, Day 7. Today we went to the top of the Eiffel
tower. We got up at 8:30 had some breakfast and climbed aboard
the 4 train. In an half an hour we were at the Eiffel tower. It
was a wonderful structure, that is if you don't have a fear of
heights. The tower was huge! When you see pictures the sheer size
does not come across but when you're there the scale comes and
hits you like a brick. We got in line for the elevator to the
second level of the tower. After waiting in line for 20-30 minutes
we were herded into the elevators like cattle. When we were at
the mid station we waited about ten minutes for the smaller elevators
that go to the top then boarded one of them. Soon we were zooming
up the tower in an elevator. When we reached the top we were confronted
with a beautiful panorama of the city We spent about twenty minutes
at the top and took quite a few pictures (One of which I sent
with the e-mail). Being pushed and shoved around soon started
to wear on us so we decided to descend the famous tower. We waited
in line for another ten minutes to get on an elevator that went
down to the second level. When it got to be our turn we got on
and descended to the second level. We got off and looked around
a bit on the second level. We looked at the stairs going down
to the first level and then to the ground, and then we looked
to huge line waiting for the elevators.We took the stairs and
it proved the better way to go.When we finally reached the bottom,
we got some cash and decided to shove off. We thought it would
be nice to get something to eat on the Seine. When we found a
nice little bakery we got a Bagger sandwich and ate by the riverside.While
eating we spotted the Statue Of Liberty's little, little sister.
There was a tiny little Statue Of Liberty, about the size of the
torch of the big one, in the middle of the river facing her big
sister in New York. When we were done we set off to find a park
that we'd heard about. We found it and liked it quite a lot. The
park was built on the site of a Citroen plant that was torn down.
It was a wonderful break from the city, and felt as if we were
actually in a garden. We had also heard about a water park nearby
and Margot wanted to go to it, so after a twenty minute stay at
the park we went out to find it. After a tiring 40 minute search
we found it. But instead of looking like a water park it looked
like a mall. Not that we go to malls, but we figured we could
do this anywhere in the world so we left and got on the Metro
going to our apartment. When we arrived home we got some dinner
and ate. After dinner it seemed like a nice time to go for some
ice cream. We had read in a guidebook that on Ile St. Louis, a
small island near Notre Dame, there was the best ice cream in
Paris. It was a good 40 minute walk but it was a nice evening
so we decided to go to it. The ice cream was good, but the walk
was even better. (On the way back we spotted an incredibly rare
Z1 BMW, Dad and I had a field day.) When we finally got home we
dropped into a deep slumber almost immediately. It had been a
good day.