A Trip to the Eiffel Tower

My friend Amanda came to visit with her sons Willem and Oliver. They’re a hop, skip and a eurotrain away in London, but we actually became friends when we lived across the hall from each other in our NY apartment. Willem is exactly two months older than Young Lady, and though I squeezed a kid out in between, little Oliver is just two weeks older than Petit Prince.

I was the perfect hostess.  I prepared a delicious meal of scalloped potatoes, salmon and garlic green beans for Monday evening. I cleaned all the crunchy things off the floor.  I put fresh sheets on the bunk bed for Willem and reveled in the fact that Amanda would have her own room to sleep in with a door that shut away the early morning cartoons she was sure to wake up to.

And just when she walked through the door was about the time I started sneezing. Like, every two minutes. And my nose would run at the speed of the TGV without any warning.

So we got up the next morning to start our day sightseeing bright and early. Oh, except, I left her with all five kids before she even had a chance to take a shower so I could take a driving lesson at 8AM. And then we headed out the door.

Guess what we saw first?

Why, what else?

We took the train into Paris

and walked along the quai (pronounced « kay »)

before cutting into a side street to get this view:

Hey look! Someone’s moving – there’s an apartment available.

This young lady likes to pose

like, a lot.

The tower sports a duck pond and garden nearby

And these gorgeous views just everywhere you look.

And we did a lot of looking.

The line was under an hour, which was a pleasant surprise,

and there were little cafés along the queue where you could buy coffees to warm your hand (I was starting to feel the discomfort of touring in February). This also allowed Petit Prince to chase the birds while waiting.

You could buy hotdogs

that came on baguettes!

As the line got closer, we were able to see the prices, and the fact that pushchairs and buggies needed to be folded.  They didn’t say anything about strollers though, so ouf! We were saved.

You could always walk if you wanted to skip the line and the prices – see the stairs over there?

And finally. With much grumbling about having to fold our strollers, carry them along with five bags, and the hand of our toddler who would otherwise run away, we got to go up top. (Actually Amanda took it all in with her usual good grace; I was the only one grumbling).

This is Trocadero, where I used to live in 1993.

This is La Defense (further back), where I used to live two years ago.

Can you spot the Arc de Triomphe in the sea of Paris?

Everybody was suitably impressed

and Amanda got her family picture on top of the Eiffel Tower (even if Willem was unhappy – it never is how we imagine it, is it?).

But it was finally time to fold the strollers back up and come down. There was even a glass window to look down – see all the tiny people on the ground? That’s where we were headed (yay! I was starting to get quite cold and miserable).

We walked to the Champs Elysées from there and stopped on the way for a tasteless lunch in a cold café, and once I got to the Arc de Triomphe, I promptly ditched my friend and left her to her own devices.

When we got home, I was shaking with a fever, and I put the kids in front of the DVD. I barely got up when she got home to tell her I’d order a pizza for dinner before abandoning her with all five kids (once again). She was unperturbed and truly a gem of a friend, forgiving me as quickly as I fell from grace.

We did manage to get some good shots of the boys in the morning, who were bonding over spitting their orange juice (while the older boys played fighting nearby with loud « bangs » and « boffs »). Amanda and I just kind of stared at each other helplessly.

The great thing about having a stuffy nose and fever (besides changing poopy diapers that you can’t smell at all) is that I didn’t have to do any more tourism the next day in the rain! Yay! (Sorry Amanda).

That’s it. I am truly the world’s worst tourist.  I’m not going to win any awards for the perfect hostess either.

Mr. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel designed the Tour Eiffel for the 1889 Paris Exposition.  It was meant to be torn down when its twenty year lease expired, and indeed many of the famous artists and writers of the day signed a petition against it, protesting its vulgarity.  But it was saved because it was being used as an antenna for telegraphy and later for the International Time Service.  Eventually it became the symbol of Paris.

Mr. Eiffel also designed the wrought iron pylon (supporting structure) inside Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty in 1885.

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