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Day 2 in Paris
We've got a lot on our list of things to do, so hopefully we'll fit it all in!
First stop was breakfast in a lovely little cafe. We had 3 eggs with bacon and baguette, was delicious and a great start to the day.
We decided that the most convenient form of transport was the metro. Luckily there were helpful girls at the information desk to let us know which were the best passes for us (Michelle was also voted chief navigator for her directional skills!).
It took two trains, but when we surfaced we were faced with the most impressive sight of the Arc de Triomphe, and the famous roundabout at the end of the Champs Élysées (we think it's called the Concorde) We were all in awe.
We went through the underpass to get to the Arc, where we inevitably queued for around 30 minutes to get our tickets to climb the stairs to the top. It was our first monument of the trip, so was an emotional experience for us all.
From there it was the walk down the Champs Élysées. There is an incredible array of people here, from locals, to tourist, street entertainers, beggars and men running down the road at a rate of knots with bags that didn't look like their own!!
Our next stop was the Louvre. We were all very keen to see as much as we could, but didn't expect to be as overwhelmed with what we saw. The masterpieces, the architecture, the history - things we could've spent a lot longer taking in if it weren't for closing time.
There was ONE drawback to the Louvre, the fact that we had to pay €1 to go to the toilet - and the queue went out the door. When we finally got close to the front of the line we noticed a sign saying "please wait for the attendant to inspect your cabin prior to accompanying you"! There was a retail section to buy colored and decorated toilet paper and other 'toilet' related products - after waiting so long to be seated on our throne, none of us were inclined to spend any of our holiday funds in there.
We made our way back to our hotel and stocked up on all sorts of goodies for our picnic dinner planned at the base of the Eiffel Tower.
The park we settled in was called ... and had the best view of the tower at night. We ate our delicious dinner of quiches, cold meats, cheese and fruit with a few wines thrown in.
The hawkers were relentless! Trying to sell us souvenirs, cigarettes or bottles of wine. We started off very politely telling them that we were fine with what we had - ending after a while with expletives in a raised tone. b******s still didn't get the hint!
The sun went down at around 11pm and the tower lights came on, it was a gorgeous sight but it didn't prepare us for the light show that was about to happen..... the tower exploded into a display of strobe lights flashing from the base to the very top. It was amazing, the crowds of people sitting in the park where we were erupted with cheering for the whole time the light show went on.
Caught the metro back to the hotel and crashed - massive day and we've all got aches and pains everywhere!! (Michelle has cankles). Straight to bed!!
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