Day 1 - Paris (continued)

So we reached the top of the Eiffel tower, one word....AMAZING! One for actually making it up all those steps and two for the awesome views of Paris. Did I mention how much I love this city! The weather was great, a slight breeze and we actually felt the tower sway a little at one point. The workers were in the middle of painting which was really cool to see, it was half rust color and half gray. These workers made me queasy just looking at them, they were harnessed up conturting to all types of weird death defying positions just to paint the tower, so not my type of job. One guy was even inside one of the piers that must have been 2ft wide and hundreds of feet above ground, makes my palms sweat just thinking about it.We wondered around the level taking it all in and must of been up there for over an hour. No idea what the time was or even what day it was really, but we didn't care. We stopped and had lunch with the best dinning view I've ever had. It was perfect, a fresh baguette with ham and cheese along with a cappuccino...mmm! This will become a staple lunch for me over the next week, it was sooooo good!After soaking in as much as we could, we decided to head back down the hundreds of steps. So much easier going down, it took us no time at all.

What to do next? We walked around the park right next to the tower, people watched, soaked in more of the sights and sounds. It was still a thrill to hear french being spoken everywhere, really grounding us that yes we were in another country. After taking photo after photo trying to get the best view of the tower with us in it, a friendly bus driver offered to take our pic. Our first real pic of the two of us in Paris...love it!

We continued to walk around the park, back under the Eiffel tower, then down to the River Seine. Where we saw the first of many beautiful bridges that Paris is famous for, the carousel with its music playing and dozens of crazy peddlers selling tacky tourist souvenirs. It was all so colorful. We thought about catching a boat back down the river but opted to walk the river front instead, it was just so picturesque. We even passed a old guy sitting on the side with his easel painting, totally charming.

Back at the Champs Elysees, after exploring little back roads on the way, we decided to stop for a coffee, my feet thanked me. The jet lag was really starting to set in, I think it was going on 24hrs that we had been awake...Must have Caffeine! We walked up to the famous Fraque's with the beautiful red awnings and red wicker seating out front. Last time I was in Paris I walked past this place and I told myself that when I come back I will have a coffee here. Well it was packed, totally touristy and no where to sit. A little bummed we walked on, Oh well, we came across a great little spot, with outdoor seating which is so fun for people watching. We stopped here for some time soaking in the view and the caffeine, man it felt good! Then we got the bill...holly cow! Would you like my first born for that coffee? Seriously, two small, itsy bitsy cappuccinos cost us over 12e which is like $15us. I guess we were paying for the location too! Totally worth it then =)On our way back to the hotel we called our guys to tell them we arrived safely and what a fabulous day we had. We called from a little pay phone around the corner, next to a department store and opposite from a few nightclubs and a toy store. An interesting mix of things. Now back to the hotel, we were ready to crash!