It was raining lightly when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower in the morning. After getting through the security gate, we found that the top two levels of the tower were closed and the line was over two hours long for tickets to visit the first level. Since this was our only chance to be on the tower, we decided to just stand in line and at least go up to the first level.
While we were waiting in line, we had the opportunity to photograph the tower from different angles. The line also passed by a display explaining that the tower is painted about every 7-10 years; and since construction was completed, it has been painted twenty times with nine different colors. The tower was last painted Jaune Brun in 2021, which is a dark shade of gray.
As it turned out, the long line helped us because just before we arrived at the ticket window, they opened the top two tower levels. We immediately purchased our tickets and then went directly to the top of the tower just in case they closed the upper levels again. On the way up, we noticed people walking up to the first level. If we would have had more time, I would have walked up to the first level. I was probably lucky we were short of time because it is a lot farther to the first level than it looks from the bottom of the tower.
The architect's office is still at the top of the tower and it is decorated as it looked when the tower was under construction.
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| Different tower colors and years painted (Picture by Kolohe) |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
On our way to the Louvre Museum, we drove by a memorial over the tunnel where Princess Diana died in a car accident on August 31, 1997. We also stopped by the Luxor obelisk to take some pictures.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
While we were in Paris, we had to stop by a shop that sold crepes and hot chocolate. Located in the same vicinity was the Galignani Bookstore, which was the first English bookshop established on the continent.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
By the time we arrived at the Louvre, the line was really long and we were not sure we could get tickets for the same day. Thanks to our sales person Heather, she was able to convince the right people to let us cut the line. I was so proud of her that I grew several feet and could touch the top of the pyramid.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
The Louvre is so large we only had time to visit a very small part of the museum, so I wanted to start with paintings to see the Mona Lisa. It was so crowed we had to wait in line just to get close enough for a quick picture and then the line moved quickly out of picture range. The building that houses the paintings is so amazing that I could have spent hours just enjoying the building and the paintings on the walls and ceilings.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
The statue exhibits were really amazing. I have seen many pictures of the statues, but I do not know enough about art to remember the artists or the names of the statues.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
We accidently discovered the museum's Egyptian section .There were various papyruses on display that were similar to ones in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Before the sun set we stopped by Arc de Triomphe. Fortunately, they have underground walks to cross the busy traffic streets. In one tunnel there was an accordion player that played French songs. I was going to sing along with him, but fortunately for other tourist I do not know the French words.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
The elevator to the top of the monument was out of service, so we had to climb a lot of winding stairs to get to the top. Just before exiting onto the roof, there is a room with several statues and exhibits.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Located under the arch was a war memorial with an eternal flame.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
Heather wanted us to have a "real Paris dining experience," so we forgot our budget and went to a really nice restaurant. If I would have seen the desert tray first, I would have skipped the dinner and just had all deserts. Anyway, after dinner we ordered a number of different deserts and then split them so everyone was able to taste a wide sampling.
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| Picture by Kolohe |
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| Picture by Kolohe |
There were nice views of the Eiffel Tower just across the street from the restaurant, so we were able to take a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower before we had to say goodbye to Paris and leave for home.
Thanks to Heather we had a great trip. We appreciate all of the work she put in to make this trip such a wonderful experience.
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| Picture om Kolohe's iphone by unknown photographer |
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