Today we went to the Eiffel Tower and when we got there, there were all these people selling little statues and key chains of the Eiffel Tower. There were concession stands and a carousel, and it was really crowded.

We couldn’t buy tickets beforehand online because they were all sold out, so we had to find out which line was the ticket line. Mom figured out that one of the lines would be for people who wanted to take the elevator all the way up and the other line was for people who wanted to take the stairs. We opted to take the stairs.
It was a very, very long line, even though the stairs line was shorter than the elevator line. It curved way out underneath the tower. Dad waited in line for about an hour while the rest of us played SpotIt in the square under the Eiffel Tower, which was extrememly dusty. (*Editor’s note: Dad was really the hero of this whole event.) We got back into line when Dad was relatively close to the booth, but we waiited in line for another hour because the line curved around a lot right before the ticket booth.
Eventually we got our tickets — the kind where you walk to the second floor and then you take the elevator to the summit. To get up to the second floor was a little more than 700 steps up.

It was really cool climbing the stairs and it was really cool because we could see all the people below us getting smaller and smaller. About halfway up to the first floor, Nadia started getting a little freaked out becuase of the height. When we got to the first floor, she decided to stay there instead of coming with the rest of us.
Also, on the first floor for part of it there was a glass floor that Zoe stood on easily, but I got a little freaked out. It was scary because it was a long way to the ground and you could see right past your feet all the way down. Mom and Dad decided that they wouldn’t risk standing on the glass. Standing on the glass was one of the scarier parts of the whole experience.
We started climbing the stairs to the second floor. Even though there was a cage around us, and you couldn’t see down through the stairs, I started feeling like the stairs were going to break and that I was going to fall. I think I felt this way because I looked through the glass floor. I just kept walking up even though I felt a little scared.

When we got to the second floor, I was good again. It feels a lot more sturdy on the platforms than on the stairs. We looked around a little bit but not a lot because we had to get to the top and then get back down to catch our Batobus boat. It was about 8:15 at this point, and the last boat left from the tower at 9:30.
There was a pretty short line to get into elevator to the top. This part was a little bit boring because we had to wait, and we weren’t near the edge of the tower; it was exciting because we were going up to the summit.

Actually, I may revise my opinion: The elevator may have been scarier than the glass floors. The elevator ride was a pretty long way, so you kept thinking, “Why aren’t we there yet?” Meanwhile you could see all the beams and everything, and you could see yourself getting really high. There were windows on all sides of the elevator so you could how high you were. There were maybe 10 people in the elevator; there wasn’t much room to move around. Once you started going up, there wasn’t much you could do. That was another scary thing.

And then we were at the summit. The elevator doors opened and actaully this part was not very scary for me. It was really high up, but there was another metal platform and glass windows and a ceiling. The view from the windows was absolutely beautiful. You could see a long way in all directions. There were a lot of people on this floor, but we could still move around.

There was one more flight of stairs to the very top. There was no ceiling or glass here and the whole platform was enclosed by a tall metal cage. We didn’t spend a ton of time there because of the boat, but we walked all the way around and we took some pictures.
From up on top of the Eiffel Tower you could see all the streets and all the cars and lots of people who looked so small you could barely make them out. Because there was a metal cage and because I knew I wouldn’t fall, it didn’t mind looking down.

After we look around for a little bit, maybe 10 minutes, we went back down. We took the elevator to the second floor, then walked down to the first floor to find Nadia. The first floor did not seem scary to me because there was a fence around it and it wasn’t that high up compared to the summit.

We made it back in time to get to the boat and then we took the boat home. When we were in the boat, the sun was setting. It was almost dark and the sun stained the clouds different colors. By time we go back to our apartment it was dark.

I really enjoyed going to the top of the tower and writing this blog about it.

We are still figuring out Paris, as evidenced by our late-afternoon hunt for cheese and bread. “It’s Paris,” Lanie said. “There should be cheese shops all over the place.”

Not exactly. And the fromagerie we did find was closed. Cheese buying is an early-afternoon activity for Parisians, apparently. We finally found some in a small market, along with some fruit. The bread was found at what may have been an after-hours speak-easy boulangerie. The first few of those we found were closed, too.

Of course, these closures may be because today is national hangover day in France. There was a lot of partying last night involved with the World Cup victory. People who weren’t drinking all night were probably up early cleaning the mess. The streets were filled with bottles and cans (and Frenchmen) when we went to bed last night and when we hit the streets today they were clean.

We gave them plenty of time to do the job, as our first order of the day was our noon time meal at the corner Italian restaurant. Here we learned that “cocktail” when applied to a pasta dish means a mix of different pastas; pizzas in France seem to be slice-your-own; and not all French cheeses are acceptable to all Pavlik children. We also learned that we could survive quite well with a waitperson who does not speak English.

It was strange, because it was kind of like breakfast for us, but as it was lunch for everyone else, Jen and I availed ourselved to our first wine of the trip. It was Italian wine. Cheap Italian wine. It reminded us of home.

Fueled up, we headed down Rue Descartes to the Isle de la Cite and the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Here we found that everyone else who wanted to visit the cathedral had gotten up before us and was already standing in line. The Crypte Archeolgique is in the same square, and it had no line at all. But that’s becuase it’s closed Mondays.

We rallied, really not missing many beats at all, and hit two museums before most of the people in line got into the cathedral. These museums were the Sainte Chapelle, with its vertical acres of marvelous stained glass, and the Conciergerie, which is the prison where they kept Marie Antionette and many other political prisoners.

But it was most noteworthy to us because they have a flume of Seine water flowing through the basement. It comes out as a waterfall over the front door. We were all impressed with that.

So, we’re getting the hang of Paris. We stopped to get a round of syrops during our next walking leg. We found our way to the Centre Pompidou, which, by the way, is closed on TUESDAY, but open on Monday.

We were really feeling good, especially with all that modern art all over the place. We bought a couple of crepes. We walked back across the Isle to see maybe if the line at Notre-Dame had gone down (it had, substantially, since the Cathedral had closed 45 minutes earlier).

We were strafed by the French Blue Angels flying very close overhead and dropping red, white and blue smoke above us and, probably, the parade celebrating Les Bleus in some other part of the city.

All that was left was to pick up some bread, cheese and tomatoes for our traditional “Roman Dinner” that we have when we’re in a cool foreign city and not eating in a restaurant. Easy, right?

Hopefully, I’m not coming off as complaining.  As a family we are a pretty good problem-solving unit, and we tend to enjoy trying to find the puzzle pieces and put them together.  The girls have been exremely good troopers so far in this respect.   Also it should be said that most problems are already solved by the time we get somewhere.  Jen has laid out a nice trip for us, including very cool accommodations very near a small square ringed with cafes. We had it together enough tonight after sending the kids to bed that we slipped out for a beer each and a bit of Parisian evening atmosphere.

I’m sure we’ll have the rest of Paris all figured out tomorrow.

We’ve successfully made it to France, courtesy of WOW Airlines.  I think they got their name from what people say when they find out how much it costs to bring a bag.  Consequently, we are traveling pretty light.  With careful measuring we determined that the girls’ school backpacks, if not overstuffed, could qualify as a “personal item,” so that’s their luggage.  Bob and I shared one suitcase to check ($80 each way) and we managed to avoid the carry-on category entirely ($60 each way).

WOW Airlines entails a stopover in Iceland.  Leaving Boston at 7pm and flying to Iceland, there was barely a night, with the pink light of the sunset almost immediately followed by the orange glow of sunrise.  The Iceland airport was pretty cool, although our enthusiasm dimmed once we’d spent $20 on two smoothies.  We had to go outside to get on our plane to France, and it was COLD.  (Now we are in France, and it it HOT.)

Anyway, WOW Airlines delivered us uneventfully to Paris, where we eventually managed to locate the train and find our way to the apartment we rented on airbnb.  I should mention here that it was now about 2pm on Sunday — three hours before the start of the World Cup championship, with France playing Croatia.  The street where we were staying was lined with bars and cafes and was closed off to traffic.  The mood was already quite…celebratory.

Everyone was exhausted from a night on the plane with little sleep, but our usual strategy for beating jet lag is to force ourselves to stay up until at least 7 or 8pm.  So once we’d gotten settled on our lovely apartment, we marshalled the troops and set off on foot.  (As I write this, it is noon on Monday and everyone but me is still asleep, so I think the plan failed.)

We had read that the city was erecting a huge screen at the Eiffel Tower to show the game.  We figured we’d walk in that direction (3 miles according to the map) and check out the scene for a while, doing a little exploring on the way.  We headed for the Seine and enjoyed the beautiful architecture, “Paris Plages” setup (a faux beachfront set up along the river), and various huge street parties getting ready for the game.

Well, I guess we took a circuitious route or misread the map, because it was quite a long walk.  By the time we

reached the area around the tower, there were huge streams of people moving away from it.  Eventually, after wandering around that area for a while, we discovered the police had barricaded it off and we were stuck on the wrong side.

The energy in the city was amazing though.  Periodically we’d hear a roar

go up all around us as we walked along, and we’d know that France had scored.  French flags and people painted red, white, and blue were everywhere.  (Bob found a little flag on the ground so we were able to wave it around and join the party.)  Near the Eiffel tower someone who lived on the ground floor had opened their window near the TV set, and a throng of fans was gathered in the street outside, peering through the window to watch.

Here’s where we’d made a major miscalculation.  We’d said all along that we’d take the metro back home.  But when we finally made it to the nearest

station, the area was behind the police blockade.  The next nearest station was closed for construction, along with a couple beyond that on the same line.  (Luckily we found a sign on the ground indicating this.)  Eventually we discovered that the entire metro seemed to have been shut down.  So that long, long walk in the hot sun had to be repeated.  No one was very happy about this.  Eventually the game ended and the streets were full of celebration, which at least added some festivity to our death march.

Back home we had to fight our way through crowds of revelers to reach the door of our apartment, but thankfully the soundproofing is excellent.  I’m not sure if anyone is going to be willing to walk anywhere tomorrow, though.