October 12, 2012- Free Day in Paris!

Our last day in Paris- October 12 we woke up to a beautiful day! This was a bonus since it had rained most of the week so far. Lex and I planned to head to the Tour d'Eiffel first in hopes of getting up to the Champagne Bar on the upper level. Since we got in so late the night before, we slept late and were too late to get in the front of the very long line. We decided rather than spend the entire morning waiting in line at the Tour d'Eiffel, we would head to the Arc de Triomphe and see if we could climb to the top for some good pictures.

 

On the way, we stopped to eat lunch at a sidewalk cafe. We ordered French onion soup and it was delicious!


French onion soup for lunch

Weather still perfect when we reached Arc de Triomphe. Line was much smaller here to climb to the top. Over 300 steps, I think.


Arc de Triomphe



View from top of Arc de Triomphe


Next, we decided to check out Notre Dame on Ile de la Cite. On the way, we passed through Jardin des Tuileries. There were many people out enjoying the garden in the sunny weather. Beautiful place!

Made it to Notre Dame. Toured inside and out. No way to describe the beauty and enormity of this building. You just have to see it for yourself. 





Notre Dame

 


Notre Dame

 

Bridge at Pont Neuf


Wandered back to the mall underground at the Louvre to buy chocolates and macarons for Christmas presents.

We found a quaint cafe near the Louvre with what looked like an interesting street view and ordered dinner. We decided to try escargot, which was served on a special plate with tongs. Appeared to be cooked with butter, garlic and parsley. They were very good and tasted a lot like mussels. We also had good wine, bread, salad with duck and pasta. Everything was delicious!




escargot

  

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at the Bastille subway stop and had a drink at a cafe. This area was very busy on Friday night and offered good people watching.

Poster for Disney's Helloween in subway station

Almost back to the hotel, we decided to stop in a local bar and see what was going on. We were surprised to find Thomas, Elliott and Preston from our group singing Karaoke with the local french crowd. We joined in and danced and sang a few songs until they closed down the bar. Great ending to a fun day in Paris and a fun week in France!