While the following day was the latest we left the hotel the whole trip, it was also probably the most enjoyable, as everyone was well rested and in a good mood. I spent part of the morning going to a butcher, cheese shop, wine store, bakery and small grocery store within feet of each other to pick up items for our planned picnic that evening. One thing that I love about Paris is that there are so many fantastic little places that have delicious food.
Once we made it out of the hotel, we took the Metro over to Trocadero Gardens, a famous park just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.
We walked around the area for a bit before finding a park bench where we had a picnic of 4 cheeses, baguette, grapes, figs, tomatoes, terrine, duck and a bottle of red wine (the last three of which I basically had to myself). The girls had a blast just running around near the tower. We got some of our favorite photos from the trip there.
Once finished with dinner, we walked across the river toward the tower. There are dozens and dozens of street vendors, almost all from West Africa, selling mostly cheap models of the tower and other souvenirs. Several had hats, and while one vendor offered 2 for 10 Euro, knowing that they had a lot of competition, I was able to snag 3 for the same price. I don’t know about you, but I think little kids in berets is one of the cutest things ever. The girls were delighted to each have their own.
After teasing the girls about the tower being closed, we went through security to go under the tower. They were besides themselves to be under the tower and to look up at it. One of them started a chant of “We’re under the Eiffel Tower,” which we very much regret not getting a video of, and still is heard at home occasionally to this day. While I’d told them earlier that we wouldn’t be able to go up to the top because the weather wasn’t the best, I headed over to the line to see how much it would cost, and found out that not only was it open, it was open to the top and not just the mid-level. So much to their delight, I bought us tickets, we headed through another round of security, and up an elevator to the mid-level. From there we took a second elevator up to the top. It was dark by this point, and cool and windy. It was a cool experience for all of them, but after about 15 minutes we were ready to head down.
Once back at the hotel, we hung out in the lobby bar and ordered some mini pizzas for the girls to eat, while I hung out and talked to the bartenders and enjoyed a couple beers. The oldest was a bit tickled that social norms allowed her to sit with me at the bar without anyone batting an eyelash, and she looked much too grown up there! Soon later we were snoozing.
Bryant Boondoggles 