European Tour - Paris Day 2 (Saturday)

WHAT A DAY!!!! I became the alarm clock for everyone and woke everyone up at approximately 7:30. There were a lot of grumpy people...jet lag was prevailing. Trying to get 7 people to move simultaneously makes me understand what our generals are going through in Iraq. Finally everyone stirred up, dressed and we headed to Rue Cler (a traditional European neighborhood at its best). I could live there the rest of my life. It was open market, great bakery, Candice and I even bought some greek salad and fresh country ham and turkey to make on a picnic later. After everyone ate their fills of croissants, coffee and other assortments of French goodies, we began our walk to the Eiffel Tower.

The walk from Rue Cler to the Eiffel was Parisian scenary at its best through tree lined streets, flowered pot filled balconies, the sirens that you can only hear in French movies I truly lost myself in the ambiance of the moment. We walked through Trocadaro park which provides the best view of the tower however we did not go up the Tower because we wanted to make that trip at night and see all the lights. We walked all around the tower and took in its magnificence. We then got on the hop-on hop-off bus which is exactly what its name says. It takes you throughtout all of Paris to all the main sites allowing you to get on and off wherever you want as much as you want. The bus took us from the Eiffel Tower to Royal Palace, Place de Concorde, burial site of Napolean, Notre Dame, Latin Quarter, Champs-Elysees, and Arc de Triomphe. We decided to "hop-off" at Champs-Elysees (a picture that I had in my mind that came to life before me). We went to the Arc de Triomphe and took the 300 plus steps up to the top and saw all of Paris from the top. After spending time at the top of the Arc we spent time browsing the shops down the Champs-Elysees, being very Parisian. I was speaking in French like I knew what the hell I was doing, nobody understood me but I was having a great time.

Then we began Carmen's odyssey to find the world's largest perfume store. Needless to say, 4 hours later we were worn out and smelling like goat cheese having never laid eyes on any perfume. But we were close to the opera house so we decided to go in and check it out. It was incredible! The rooms were exquisite and the grandeur magnificent. Finally at about 7 pm we returned to our hotel for a power nap before heading out to the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower at night is a site for this poor boys eyes. I crack myself up sometimes. haha This side is so outstanding that pictures don't do the engineering and architecture of this tower justice. It's clear to see why it's one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. From 10 pm until 12 the tower lights up with strobe lights for 10 minutes every hour on the hour. It was beautiful but the special part for me was being up there with my family. It was time to call it a night so we came down at midnight and headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

Miguel