Sunday in Paris

Our morning started at the local boulangerie where we loaded up on chouquettes, baguettes, and amazing chocolate almond filled croissants before heading to Hillsong Paris.  The people here were very friendly and we were treated to have a gentleman from England giving the message, so it was easy for us to follow along!  However, we all agreed that of all the languages we’ve worshiped in these past 10 months, French was definitely the most complicated! 

Hillsong Paris - singing along in French was a challenge!

It was another overcast day with rain on and off, but after church it seemed to have let up a bit, so we took advantage of it and headed to climb the Eiffel Tower.  We climbed the ten flights to the second floor and then took an elevator to the top where we enjoyed views over the city and places we’d visited.  We also learned that Gustave Eiffel had a secret apartment up at the top of the tower that was the envy of Parisian elite. He used the apartment to "get away" but also for science experiments and dining with some prestigious guests such as Thomas Edison, who gave him a phonograph machine as a gift. It is said he received insane offers from the rich to spend just one night in the apartment, but he refused them all.  Unfortunately this apartment was closed at the time of our visit.

At the base of the Eiffel Tower!

Can't believe I'm here!

Climbing up the Eiffel Tower

We made it to the top!

We headed to the Notre Dame area and ducked into a creperie for lunch as we waited for the pouring rain to ease up a bit.  We then explored the interior of Notre Dame and opted to skip climbing the bell towers and looking for the Hunchback, much to our daughter and youngest son’s disappointment.

Chapel at Notre Dame

Beautiful stained glass windows

The crew in front of Notre Dame

At this point everyone was cold, wet, and getting tired but we had time to kill before dinner so we decided to walk to the Louvre.  Unfortunately by the time we arrived it had closed, so we stood in the rain deciding what to do next.  We finally took the metro back to the Notre Dame area where dinner was scheduled and had a make shift happy hour as we waited for the restaurant to open.  Thankfully we had a sweet waitress and great food to make the wait worth it!

Rain, rain , rain.... arriving at the Louvre after it closed.