UNCLE October 26

   Today I cried UNCLE. I just needed to rest and not wake up while it was still dark outside in order to roam the streets of Paris. The rest of my group went to Versailles today and since I have seen a lot of great castles and palaces I decided it would be a great day to sleep in and rest a little.

   We had purchased tickets for the Eiffel Tower a few days earlier so I arrranged to meet my friends at the tower a few hours before our appointed time of 8pm so that we could take pictures in the daylight and at night.

   We had planned to purchase our tickets for the tower while we were still at home, however we realized weather might be an issue so we decided to wait until our arrival in Paris.The plan was to check the weather and then choose a day that looked promising to be clear at the top. Imagine our surprise when all of the daytime slots (through 8pm) were full through atleast the day we were to leave! It is the end of October,
who would have expected so many tourists to still be filling Paris? It is possible to go and wait in line and be there at an earlier time, however the wait in line can be 3 hours long.

   It turns out that our ticket time was perfect for evening photos of the Paris skyline, and the city looked beautiful all lit up. It was windy and chilly on certain sides of the tower when we were up there, especially when we ventured out onto the top most platform that is open (fenced in) to the air.

    After enjoying the view of this famous monument during the daylight, we went to dinner at an atmospheric brasserie. Deiann ended up choosing a meal that turned out to be Trout Almondine, and when faced with the fish with it's head and tail intact she decided to entertain us (and our French waiter) with a talking fish. We laughed and our waiter laughed as he watched from a distance. He finally took pity on Deiann, came over and grabbed her knife and fork and ceremoniously deboned (and beheaded and detailed) her fish for her. You could tell it wasn't his firt time asssistiing someone. He even smiled for the paparazzi (Lauri) as he worked.

   After dinner it was back to the Eiffel Tower and straight past the line and onto the tower itself. A sort of sideways elevator (it only looks sideways from outside) took us to the midlevel where we got off and ran to the side to look out. It was fun looking out at the glittering nightime skyline and picking out all of the places we had already visited. After enjoying the 2nd level we jumped in line (even with a reservation you can only avoid the line for so long) and rode the smaller,  straight up elevator. This elevator only held about 10 people vs the first elevator that held about 30 people. After reaching the next level you could stand and enjoy the view looking out through windows, or you could climb a short set of stairs and be out in the howling wind and chilly night air. I had to go all the way to the top but I didn't stay long. I choose to enjoy the view from the heated indoor view.

   JoBeth was the most reluctant to leave at the end of the evening. The Eiffel Tower seemed to represent everything she had ever dreamed about Paris.The rest of us were happy to have seen it, and glad to have another "Paris Top 10" checked off our list.