Conquering Napolean (well, his arc at least)

I'd like to start by saying that we are practically professionals at navigating the Paris metro system now. We hop on and off so easily now. It really makes getting around super easy.

The Arc de Triomphe was our first destination. This arc is a symbol of Napolean's military conquests. After buying our billets (tickets) to go to the top of it, we realized we'd have to climb 284 steps to get up there and an equal number to descend. I nearly walked away from it, but I don't want to miss a single experience while we are here. We huffed and we puffed and we triumpantly landed on the top of the Arc. The view was beautiful. You can see many Paris landmarks from this view (164 ft hight). Napoleon really exalted himself with this arc. There are many stories depicted in carvings on this building.

The Arc is at the western end of Champs-Elysees which is known for shopping. So what could we do but shop? We looked in Cartier. The rings I liked were about 20,000 Euro. Ben didn't think we should spend that much. :(  We also went into a purse boutique. I cannot remember what it was called but small handbags started at 1,000 Euro. Again, we left without any purchases. We shopped till our feet were complaining. Of course, we still had a good portion of the day left.



We went to an area called St. Augustine in search of a recommended jewelry store. It was disappointing. Again, I left empty handed.

What is a trip to Paris without crepes? We found a cute little sidewalk cafe to enjoy such a traditional treat. Ben's lemon crepe was so sour! Mom would have cringed, but Ben thoroughly enjoyed it. Mine was apple and equally delightful. I sipped espresso which is what I pictured doing in Paris. Perfect moment! When Ben asked for the bill after we had been finished for a while, the waiter used body language to tell Ben to chill, relax! It was so funny. So the waiter made us wait a few more moments while he just stood there watching whatever was going on in the street. Once the waiter swiped Ben's credit card (which they always do at the table here), he handed the credit card to me, and again using body language, told me to go shopping. We were laughing again.

We returned to the Tour Eiffel. After waiting in several different lines (each for a different thing) we arrived at the top of the tour. WOW! It was super cold as the sun had set already and it was windy. We seemed to literally be in a cloud but the view was still wonderful. I tried to keep my shivering hands as steady as possible to take pictures of the city lights at night. Then we stood in several more long lines trying to get down the tour. By this point, I thought my feet might divorce my body as they were very unhappy.

On our way home, we stopped at a little cafe and had dinner. Dinner in Paris is always late so our 9pm dinner is nothing unusual. Our waiter removed Ben's empty dinner plate, picked up my half full dinner plate, of which I was finished, and put it in front of Ben and told him to finish it. And Ben did just so.

Now we are back at our apartment. Our Paris adventure is ending. But we have many wonderful memories. Tomorrow we head back to England to meet up with the family.

Pictures taken today: 279