Day 164-visiting Paris

   June 16-Ever since we decided to make this trip to Europe, the kids have (almost) only wanted to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  So, that is what we did today.  It turned out to be very close to us.  We only had to walk a few blocks.  How does that work?  Well, we got up at 7 am, got around quickly and walked a couple blocks to the Metro.  Two stops later we were at the Zuid train station and boarded our Thalys bullet train, which left the station at 8:37.  It was quite exciting to be on the train, since it was so fast.  Shan pulled out the GPS at one point and clocked the train at 200 mph!  It only took 1.5 hours to reach the Gare du Nord train station in Paris, where we got on another Metro subway line, and, after one transfer, we came out above ground only a couple blocks from the Eiffel Tower.  So, walking-wise, it was only a few blocks from the apartment in Brussels.  Ah, the joys of public transportation! 

It's HUGE!

   When Sally started planning our visit to the Eiffel Tower a month ago, she found out that two of the three elevators were out of commission, so all of the tickets for the remaining tower were sold out and the line to buy tickets at the tower were over two hours long.  So, we had all resigned ourselves to being able to only climb the stairs up to the second level.  We walked over to the tower and the kids were in awe.  This made the whole trip worthwhile!  The line to walk up the stairs was very short, as advertised, but when we got our tickets, we had a surprise: we could purchase tickets for the elevator from the second floor to the top!  We were not quite sure if we had heard correctly, but when we arrived at the second level and had wandered around on it for a short while, we found out that we could, in fact, go on to the top!  So, that is what we did and with hardly any wait at all. 

Comparing the Eiffel Tower's height
(the blue line) to the highest
buildings in Iceland and Britain.

 

At the second level.

 
   The views were great 380 feet up on the second floor and they were fantastic from the top, 900 feet above the city.  We found out later that this is the highest publicly-accessible point in the EU.  We could see many of the famous sights of Paris, so the kids got a good overview of the city.  We came inside when a rainstorm hit and made our way down to the bottom.  We took the elevator back down to the second level and then walked to the first level.  Spencer wanted to ride the elevator to the bottom, which ran at an angle down the leg, so we jumped on one for the last part of the descent.

The Hays family on top of Paris.

The Arc de Triomphe.

The Louvre.

The Seine River.

The Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

Yes, they really were there.

   The rain had dwindled to only light showers, so we headed off on foot and found a restaurant where we restocked.  Three of us ordered French food: Alex got (French) onion soup, the adults got beef boulignaise, and Joslyn and Spencer got a burger and a sandwich.  Reenergized, we headed across town towards Notre Dame.  The kids saw a few stores to shop in, so we only made slow progress.  At one point, while I was waiting outside for them, a guy tried to con me out of a few euros, by “giving” me a “gold” ring.  Unfortunately (for him) it didn’t work.  This was the sort of stuff we expected to occur much more, so we were happy that it only happened once, and, overall, the visit went remarkably well.

Les Invalides, which houes a hospital, housing for veterans,
war museums, and the burial site of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Notre Dame.

Charlemagne at Notre Dame.

  We made our way to the Seine River and walked along it to the island on which Notre Dame is built.  We didn’t get into the long line of people going into the cathedral, but instead viewed it from outside and then wandered the streets around it shopping for touristy knick-knacks and buying crépes and sandwiches for supper.  After a little searching, we caught the Metro across the river, got on our train, and headed "home."

   The train rolled into Brussels just as the Sun was setting on the horizon at 10pm.  A final Metro ride completed our day on rails and we were back at the apartment.  The kids hit the sack, and then Sally and I grabbed some beers at the beer store below the apartment, filled our glasses and walked out onto the adjoining Grand Place courtyard.  Many people were sitting around on the courtyard drinking wine and visiting, so we found a spot that we liked and did the same.

Sally is appropriately situated in front of the Beer Museum.

   The buildings around the marketplace date back to the 1300s, but most were rebuilt in the late 17^th century after the French bombarded the city center into rubble in 1695.  As you might imagine, the buildings are exquisitely beautiful, so it was a great place to sit and drink some fine Belgian brews.  We refilled our glasses and took in the scene a bit longer.  We also finally found a use for our rudimentary knowledge of Icelandic.  We had people approach us a couple times to ask for money, but when they asked if we spoke English, we answered, in Icelandic, “no, I speak Icelandic.  Do you speak Icelandic?”  After a couple times of this, they gave up and walked on.  I think that we should put our efforts into learning the language just to have a secret language that only we know, kind of like the Navajo Indian radio operators in the U.S. Pacific theater during World War II.  We’ll see if it works out.  Finally, we retired to bed a little after midnight.  Overall, it was a great day.