Day 2 in Paris

Day two, dawns sunny and a promise to be warm. Perfect weather.  A full agenda planned for this day - Eiffel Tower, hop-on/hop-off Paris city tour and an evening dinner cruise on the Seine river.

So to beat a long line for the tower we planned to get there about a half hour before opening. So this necessitated an early breakfast and taxi through Paris morning traffic. All worked well and the line was not long. The tower was spectacular and we went to the top. Fantastic views of Paris and the Seine river. Afterward we walked the Champs de Mars for some ground level views of the tower. I think it is the most graceful from a distance. Truly a modern marvel.

We picked up the city tour bus near the tower. A double decker with open air on top for good viewing. This really gave a nice overall perspective of the city. Great views of the Invalides and Louvre museums, Arc de Triumph, Champs de Elyse, the high end shopping district, Notre Dame, Pont Neuf, and the bridge with thousands of "marriage" locks.  We got off at the Louvre for a fun walk around the central courtyard with its glass pyramid. We also got off near Notre Dame for lunch at an outdoor cafe. Great food, sunshine and people watching!

Our last hop-off was near the marine museum across the Seine from the Eiffel tower. There are great views of the tower here, plus a beautiful plaza, fountain and park. The dinner cruise start point was just a short stroll across the bridge to the tower side. So overall the bus tour was a real success.

I hate to say it but the dinner cruise turned out to be a disappointment. The views were good, but the problem was it was like a greenhouse inside the glass enclosed boat!  Even though it was evening (6:30 - 8) it turns out that here in Paris in mid May sunset is about 9:30 and it is still light out at 10:30! So the boat was in quite bright sunshine for the whole cruise. This added another problem - the city lights on bridges, towers, etc. don't come on till 10ish so we really didn't get much of a view of Paris's famed night lights. But I shouldn't complain - it was still worth while.

So, for the last night in Paris we took a leisurely stroll along the Latin Quarter's Boulevard St. Germain and back to our hotel. A very good day.

Tomorrow sees us off to Rouan.

Photos: Eiffel Tower; Bob & Cath at Louvra; a Hearty chicken provençal lunch with French onion soup