Paris and More Paris with Jace

We didn’t have to get up too early, and planned to wander around Paris until our evening visit to the Eiffel Tower.

The Canopy by Hilton is only a 20-25 minute walk from the Tower, so our first project was to walk down there and the spot where we were to meet the ticket re-sellers at 5:45 pm.

Time for a photo or two as well…

We also watched three different hustlers playing the “shell game,” complete with their own shills scoring big wins to attract bets from the gullible. Jace enjoyed watching the fancy moves.

We eventually bought a BatoBus pass and sailed along the Seine to the Louvre stop (most stops were closed due to high water).

We disembarked and strolled toward Notre-Dame, but stopped at a well-rated bistro, Paul, for a very French lunch.

https://www.restaurantpaul.fr/

We introduced Jace to Escargot and Foie Gras. He liked the snails but found the liver “buttery.”

We dined well on lamb…

Cod…

And steak et frites…

After this large and satisfying lunch, we started to walk to Notre-Dame,  but rain and thunder disrupted that plan. Our hotel umbrellas came in handy, but we still took shelter in a Métro station for awhile.

The rain passed quickly, and we made our way back to the BatoBus stop for the ride back to the Eiffel Tower stop.

Eventually it was our appointed time to ride up the tower to the second level, and then onward to the summit, about 900 feet up, the tallest manmade structure in the world until surpassed by New York City’s Chrysler Building in 1930. In a low-rise (by choice) city, it’s still an impressive creation.

And eventually, after long lines and two rounds of security, up from the second level to the summit.

A beautiful night…

The next day found us up for our last day in Paris. We did manage to visit the Note-Dame reconstruction site, and view the amazing progress toward completion.

Paris has great mimes. Marcel Marceau was a trendsetter.

We also found a row of souvenir shops that had enthralled a couple of Jace’s cousins in 2019 (Hello, Lily and Peyton!), and an impressive Gelato stand.

We can all speculate which was most memorable to Jace.

The following travel day proved to be one of the most challenging ones we’ve faced in awhile, but we’ll leave that for another post.