Eiffel's Tower

A tour through Europe would not be complete without a visit to Paris, so when Grandma planned a trip to visit us, we decided it would be a good time to take a family trip to Paris.  And of course, iconic in Paris is the Eiffel Tower.  The kids were truly awestruck by it, and honestly it's hard not to be--therefore I took a bajillion pictures, and narrowing down just a few to share with you is difficult, so I hope you don't find this too boring...

at sunset

Okay here goes.  We arrived on a rainy day, and our travel took way longer than we had hoped.  After finally getting settled at our apartment, we left Grandma at the apartment (79 steps and a sprained ankle forced us to carefully consider coming and going from the apartment) and went for some dinner.  A couple of the kids wanted to go see the Eiffel Tower after dinner.  Since it was at least a 30 minute walk one way, we split up and Cory, Riley and I (Kristi) decided to brave the dark streets to find it.  

We arrived right on the hour--when they light the sparkly lights!  Lucky us.

The next morning was a rainy, cloudy day.  We were on our way to the bus to head out to Versailles (another post), and were very near the Tower.  Riley and I were quite confused, because we knew it was really close to where we were, but it was no where to be seen!  Then we caught this little glimpse...

The dot that appears to be a smudge on the camera lens?  top of the tower 

When we returned from Versailles the rain had ceased and the clouds had moved enough that this is what we saw.

And since the lines were not incredibly long (as every bit of research we had conducted suggested they would be), we got our tickets to go up.

Unfortunately, the wheelchair could not go to the very top, so Betty and I had to be satisfied with this view.  We were happy to not wait in more lines for another elevator, and we enjoyed some shopping and refreshments on the second floor. 

Betty was so excited to see Paris from above!

Ted and the kiddos saw this...

Notre Dame

Arc de Triomphe

River Seine and place de Trocadero

Hotel de Invalides

We convinced Lucy this would all be worth it because afterwards she could ride the carousel across the street.

Pink Jacket on zebra

lit up for the night

And, then, on the walk to the apartment after a day in Versailles, we enjoyed another sparkly show from Hotel des Invalides.

Lit up and sparkling

And to think, it was originally thought to be a monstrosity and an eyesore.  It wasn't even supposed to be a permanent structure in Paris.  Yet here we are over 100 years later centering our vacation around it.