Les Touristes!

Today, we became über-tourists, as we had a bus tour, a trip up the Eiffel Tower, and a river boat cruise planned for the day. 

After a lunch of melon, roasted chicken and beef, sautéed veggies and salad (all from Nathalie's garden), bread, and yogurt and peaches for dessert, we left for our bus tour, which began outside of the Louvre.

The tour hit many of the sites throughout the city, and the audio guide gave us plenty of details of its illustrated history. We purposely sat in the last row of seats, so we always had a great view through the back window. It was a pretty overcast day, which doesn't help photography, but we were still able to snap up some decent pics. I won't go into details, but here are a few photos from the tour. 

The Louvre

Palais Garnier (theatre and opera house)

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (mini version of the Arc de Triomphe near the Louvre)

Notre Dame Cathedral

 

The Pantheon (once a church, now a mausoleum)

Arc de Triomphe (side shot - was never able to get a good front shot)

National Assembly

Luxor Obelisk (from Egypt - over 3000 years old)

Our tour finished at the Eiffel Tower, where we were able to skip the massive line and head straight to the second level. 

 

For a few more Euros, you can head up to the third level, so we did. It was pretty windy up at the top, but apparently even in the worst winds, the tower only sways 16 cm. 

The line ups were long, but we were glad we went to the very top. It made Montmartre seem like an ant hill. Once we were back on solid ground, we decided that we didn't have time for the river boat cruise today. The tickets are good for a year, so we plan to squeeze it in later this week. Instead, we walked through the Parc du Champs de Mars. There were guys selling sparkling wine everywhere (I wouldn't dare call it champagne). We talked a guy down from €25 to €7 for a bottle, and we found a nice spot with a view. 

For dinner, we did a nearby TripAdvisor search and found a steakhouse called Les Crocs des L'Ogres (the fangs of the ogre) that was just a short walk away. Our server was fantastic and spoke excellent English. Instead of simply ordering off of a menu, you had the option of going to the in-house butcher and selecting your cut of beef at the counter in 100 gram increments. Definitely a unique experience. 

Our steaks (we split four different 100 gram cuts) were served with salad and roasted baby potatoes just like Meme used to make. We shared a creme brûlée for dessert, and our server brought us a complimentary digestif made from prunes (84 proof) for "his Canadian guests". 

All of it was amazing. We both rank it as our best meal of the trip yet. 

  

Afterwards, we waddled to the metro and made our way back to the apartment. 

Tomorrow we're off to Versailles for the day. We hear it's spectacular, but it can get really busy, so we plan to get an early start for another day of sightseeing.