to Paris

After the quick stop in Rouen it was time to head to Paris . . . drop off the rental car at the airport and hopefully a quick ride into the city. This was my 5th trip to Paris and there was one place I was never able to visit . . . it closed at 4pm. We arrived at our hotel around 3:00pm and quickly set out to see if we could make it. We got there at 3:30pm and there was a line . . . we were told we would probably not make it inside but could stay if we wanted to take a chance. I wanted to stay since I knew it was closed on Monday because this was our only change to get inside. At 4:00pm, the line was closed to enter . . . guess where we were? 5 people from the front . . . can you believe that? I was very disappointed! What upset me the most, even though I knew the place 'closed' one hour before the 'real' closing, was we were SO close . . . I pleaded that we would walk super fast but no luck. I tried to play the pity card and stuck Colin in front of the sign and said, "Stand there and let me at least take your photo since they did not let us in." Oh well, guess it means some day I must go back. Now that I have totally built up this place let me tell you where it was . . .

Did that catch you by surprise? You can go here to read more; maybe next time I can see it in person. Totally weird but it is a very popular place to visit and when you have been five times you sort of branch out to odd places. It took me the rest of the day to get over it but I am over it! We hoped back on the Metro and headed to Notre Dame . . .

and found this lady which Colin really loved . . .

. . . she was such a happy person and went to anyone who was standing around and would get them involved. It was hilarious watching this Asian man! In case you are wondering, YES tons of hand sanitizer was used after we left!

After a typical tourist menu meal . . . which was cheap and good by the way . . . it was time for a Seine River Cruise. Colin was not as interested as I thought he would be but it was nice to sit and feel the cool breeze. I liked these faces on one of the bridges . . .

During the boat ride as we passed the Eiffel Tower I asked Colin if he would like to go to the top of it . . . he said, "no way!" I told him too bad because I had already bought our tickets . . . such a great mother. After the boat ride we made our way over to the Eiffel Tower. Of course the lines were ridiculously long, but I had purchased our tickets online . . . great idea! NOTE: always check to see if you can pre-book tickets to popular sites. The pre-purchased ticket line had no one, and we merged right in to get on the elevator to level 2! Of course the second line from level 2 to the summit was longer but only waited about 30 minutes. Colin was getting excited and once we were on top and outside he was thrilled and not nervous at all and started taking a closer look down below . . .

It was very crowded at the summit as it was around 9:45pm and the sun was starting to set . . . never thought about that when I booked tickets but the crowd was bearable. We went back down to level 2 where I told Colin I had a surprise for him . . . when I pulled it out he gave me some love . . .

. . . and then we both had a drink of hot Dr. Pepper. Where did I find Dr. Pepper in Europe? When in London 5 days earlier . . . yes, I carried it around for that long. So we spent the evening of the 4th of July on top of the Eiffel Tower sipping Dr. Pepper. Oh and YES it tasted like a real Dr. Pepper!

It was a great day . . . but long!

Colin's Photo of the DayHe said he was going to tell Papa . . . planning at dinner as usual!