Day 6

The theme of our trip is - so close yet so far away. So far nothing seems to be going our way in Paris. We are trying to get an early start today to see more of the sites. Pics are up on smugmug from day 6 and we`ll update you more about it tonight!

Of course the first stop any American in Paris needs to take is at the Eiffel Tower. We took the Metra (Paris`subway system and by far easier to understand than Amsterdam`s but unfortunately smells even more pee soaked) to the Ecole Militare stop. We followed the signs up the street and eventually hit the end of the Eiffel Tower mall area. And there it was, the world famous steel tower we had read and heard about all of our lives:

We started our walk toward the tower so we could get our tickets to the top. While we waited in line with other tourists from across the world, Amy pointed out that the Jules Verne restaurant`s elevator station was right there. Uncle Tub and Aunt Carmen had given us dinner for two on our honeymoon at the restaurant so I decided to walk over and check the menu and see if I could get a reservation for 9pm. The menu listed the entrees at around 55-70€ a piece, but we expected that and thought it would be a chance to have the dinner of a lifetime. I asked the security guard out front if they were taking reservations and he said yes, but the earliest one would be for 9pm. Perfect! That was the exact time we were looking for. He sent me inside to set the time with the maitre de. "Table for two at 9pm, please!" I said. He looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language (which I was) and notified me that the restaurant was booked solid for the next three months. I believe kids on the internet these days call that a "fail" and this follows the theme of the Paris trip Amy explained in the first paragraph.

Based on a friend`s recommendation, we decided to take the stairs up to the first and second floors of the tower. The reason for doing this is because the line is at last 100 people shorter than the elevator line. So, we took the stairs... The first floor was a breeze! We were amazed by the views, completely breathtaking. Before proceeding, we stopped at the cafe/cafeteria/tourist trap for a frommage and baguette sandwich (our new favorite meal) and french fries. We were joined by a handful of very hungry pigeons and a family celebrating a birthday with a never ending birthday song candle. How romantic. Did we mention that at this point a storm cloud was right over the tower and the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees?

After that, we found the stairway that led up to the second level. We could definitely feel the burn in our thighs on that one. Our tickets granted us access to the top of the tower but we were worn out by this time and ready to head back down so we skipped the top and began our descent.

We took a few more pics back on the ground and then headed to the Invalides. It is an old veterans hospital which has been converted into a military museum. It had a pretty cool central square in the middle and we also checked out the museum portion that had lots of armor and antique weaponry.

We kind of rushed through the museum so we could get back to the apartment to clean up and get into some nice clothes for a champagne cruise we had scheduled the night before. We only had a couple hours to work with to change and hurry back to the foot of the Eiffel Tower by 6pm to board the ship that would take us through the city on the Seine River and sample different glasses of the bubbly. Quite the romantic concept, indeed.

Cutting it close, I knew we had to hustle to get there on time... Amy was more relaxed this time around than I was, which to me was a bad sign because it usually goes the opposite way. After my Amsterdam fiasco, I wasn`t about to let us miss both a train AND a ship on the same trip.

As the sun beat upon us, we snaked our way through the tourists, African trinket pushers and Indian scam artists (don`t fall for the postcard trick) and actually arrived with five minutes to spare. There was a long line, of course, of people buying boat tickets but we figured we were ok since we had purchased ours online the night before. Walk up, give them our name, hop aboard, and start sippin. Or at least that was the plan.

Every second we waited in line felt like an hour until we were right up to the ticket booth. These two girls ahead of us were just having the hardest time figuring out if they wanted to go or not. Not like they had 20 min before that waiting in line to figure it out or anything.....

They finally decided they did want to go and then they had issues with the credit card they wanted to use. At this point it was 6:04. I finally pushed past them and told the ticket lady we had reservations and to let us on the boat asap. As I said this, they closed the gates to the boat and set sail downstream. What happened after that is far too infuriating and frustrating and to try to type on this French keyboard, so I will save everyones time. Plus I`m tired.

So, we decided to chug ourselves a bottle of Merlot with baguettes and fromage to simmer down after the debacle. It helped.

We walked down the street and found a nice little restaurant and had dinner. Both of us really liked the escargot.

Definitely another long day full of excitement, we`re running a day behind on updates but we`ll get `em crankin after the sun rises "demain matin". Au revoir for now!