A View From the Top

Today was a great day. I got up and went for a run this morning. It was perfect weather, cool and a bit cloudy. I ran along the river, all through the park at the Louvre and around town a bit, and i did NOT get lost this time. :)
Dillon was in really bad shape this morning. We think that his allergies are the problem and it’s causing some asthma to set in. We gave him all kinds of medicine, but he just wanted to sleep. So, we decided to let him stay home and rest.
We took the girls down the the Arc de Triomphe. It was SO very beautiful! We loved it. We explored down below, then climbed to the top. This has been our favorite climb so far because it is so wide and well lit. The views from above were INCREDIBLE. We could see all of Paris, parts we had not seen before. It was really spectacular. We all felt sad that Dillon was not there to share it with us, so we will be back.
After we finished at the Arc, we headed down the Champs-Élysées, another beautiful sight. We grabbed some yummy lunch on the avenue and then they “let” me go in to the world’s biggest Sephora. It was 5 times as big as any that I have seen. Mali was so bothered by the time I got out, that we decided there would be no more shopping today. We headed down Avenue Montaigne to see the real luxury shops. For some reason, it’s not very fun for me to look at shops that I can’t even afford to enter. :) So, we didn’t linger too long.
We got back on the metro and then stopped at Amorino, the delicious gelato shop, on our way home (we just discovered one about 5 blocks from our house! not good…) When we returned, we found Dillon to be feeling much better – yeah!! Dave and I went out to run some errands while the kids chilled for awhile.
We decided to have some salad for dinner at home, and then pack a bread/cheese/grape picnic to eat at the Eiffel Tower before we headed up. We got down to the area around 9:30 pm. We found a great picnic spot right at the bottom of the tower and partook of our bread and cheese. It was so beautiful! We got to see the shimmer start and the sun set as we ate. We headed up around 10:20 pm. (We were SO glad we had ordered them on-line as the lines were horrendous.)
As we ascended, I remembered my fear of heights, especially in elevators and had a panic attack! I hate this part of myself. It has only come on since having Dillon. I don’t know why, but I freaked out – ugh! But, when we reached the second level, I was able to walk around and enjoy the amazing view. Mali volunteered to stay with me while the other 3 continued on to the top. We met a nice fellow American in line for the down elevator that helped distract us from our fear. :)
We reached the bottom a little after 11 and waited there for the others. They got down right before 12. They said it was incredible! The views – simply amazing. They took lots of photos for us. We are hoping to return again during the day to see what it looks like in the daylight. They ended up taking the stairs for the last part because the elevator lines were so long and said that the stairs were the scariest part!
Our metro ride home was an adventure in itself. It took us awhile just to get oriented and find a metro stop. Then, once we got on, we were training over the river when mid-bridge, the lights went out and the train stopped. This freaked us out just a bit, but a few minutes later, someone came over the loud speaker and we started up.
When we were about 3 stops in to our next train ride, when we saw several police officers run down the length of the train. We were at a stop, with the doors open. Dave saw two guys get handcuffed and a third about to be before they gave our train the go ahead to leave. Such an exciting adventure. Our kids are seeing way more than I had hoped for them to see on this trip!
We were all relieved when we reached our station and walked home. It was after 1:00 am, and everyone was exhausted. We told the kids to sleep in as late as they wanted tomorrow!
Fun day!

The girls in front of the Arc de Triomphe

The outside of the beautiful Arc de Triomphe

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Dave ascending

Views from the first level. They have a camera that films the happenings below.

Dave & Hayley at the top. Mali with the Eiffel Tower behind her.

Some views from the top
Just a few of the stairs

Champs-Élysées from above Louis Vuitton

Arriving at the Eiffel Tower. Perfect light, wish we had all 5 been in a photo!
crossing the Seine

picnic!

Three cute kids on level two of the tower

Views from the Eiffel Tower at night

The brave ones! :)