Wandering the Streets of Paris

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Hello all,

On Monday we spent most of the day on foot wandering the streets & seeing the sights of Paris. As we are in the Bastille area we had to get up to the other end of the city so we got some tickets to ride the Batobus. The Batobus is a river boat cruise / transfer company that runs a loop of the Seine stopping at all the major attractions. So we boarded at Jardin Des Plantes ( a huge park / garden.....containing Paris's version of the Tan) & took in the sights along the river up to the stop at Champs Elysees. We then proceeded to walk all the way up to the Arc De Triomphe, stopping for a snack nearby & then ascending the stairs to the top for a wonderful view.
It is as I remember quite amusing to just watch the multitude of cars, buses & bikes ( both types ) trying to weave through the traffic to get to one of the 12 Avenues feeding in & out of the Arc.
From here we could get a great look at the Tour Effiel after taking in all the sights & sounds we made our way down to start the 20 min walk to the Tower.The walk was full of messing around & laughs so before we knew it we were there. The kids never slowed up once & I made sure to keep the pace up leading from the front. ( As I do )
On turning the final corner & looking straight at the Eiffel Tower the kids were lost for words. It is quite awe inspiring to be standing at its base looking up. Pictures do not do its size any justice.
We had been warned that the queues could be quite bad so we prepared for a bit of a wait but as has been the way so far the queue was not bad at all & within 25 mins we were on our way up. It must be said that there was considerable discussion in the line as to who was going to what level & how we would get there. In the end 3 of us were heading to the very top & H was happy to call it quits at level 2. So after the short lift ride to the first level we got out & took some time out to have a coffee & a snack. We then decided to take the stairs up to level 2. We were all puffing by the time we got there. It was quite fresh up there & on cooling down we all regretted not having more clothes. So anyway we bid H farewell & Loch, Ains & myself got the lift to the top. All 324m up. It was a wonderful site. The highest point in Paris & well worth the 12Euro p.p. to see.
Eventually we made our way down & met H at ground level before heading over to the Eiffel Tower Batobus stop for the return trip to the Gardens. From there it's a 10 min walk back to Diderot & then Daumesnil.
We were all pretty worn out & had a plate of pasta before shutting it down in preparation for the big day at Disneyland the next day.

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Photos

Arc De Triomphe
Dean trying not to get run over.

Eiffel Tower
Rusty...( aka Loch ) striking a pose !!

Eiffel Tower
A view from the top looking down Champ De Mars towards Ecole Militaire.