Paris

During the Easter hols we had to postpone our trip to Paris. It was definitely worth the wait as we caught the Thalys early this morning and arrived in Paris before 10am. The train was great and definitely the best way to travel.
Even though I've been to Paris a number of times I've never been up the Eiffel Tower so that was our number one goal for today. We made the right decision to walk up the stairs which was fun. It was made even better when we persuaded Olivia to stop counting the steps when we realised the numbers were painted on the side every 10 steps! We went to the second floor and we're pleased with the views even though it was a bit of a drizzly day.

From here we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and took some snaps in the rain. Then we introduced Olivia to The Avenue des Champs-Élysées so she could marvel at the Parisian fashion. She (and we) couldn't believe the queues just to get into Louis Vuitton and Abercrombie and Fitch or the bouncers on the doors!
From here we just kept walking (the kids are getting quite used to doing lots of walking these days) and came to Place de la Concorde where Olivia shared with us some 'be-heading' facts that she had read in her 'Not for Parents: Everything you ever wanted to know about Paris' book. It was a pretty gruesome place back then. However our attention soon turned to the bride and groom who were posing for photos in the middle of the place with views of the Eiffel Tower behind them and Olivia took lots of snaps with her camera.
From here it was on to Jardin des Tuileries so the kids could have a run and play at the playground, which was great, apart from the rain.


Finally we sought shelter and had a lovely meal before heading back to our digs for the night to rest so that we can carry on with our adventure tomorrow.