Wanting another recovery day after Disneyland and still tired from the first Contiki trip we decided to sleep as long as we wanted today. Daniel said he would come up to our room at midday to see if we were ready to go sightseeing. So at midday we awoke to the knocking at our door. It wasn’t until 2.30 that we were out of the hotel and ready to meet Ash from our last Contiki at the Arc de Triomphe.
We wandered around the tomb of the Unknown Soldier that lies at the bottom of the Arc, and looked at the different Napoleonic battles represented on the sides. Then we climbed the 284 stairs to the top where we caught beautiful views of the eight sides of the roundabout, including down the Champs-Élysées and to the La Grande Roue Ferris wheel down. We walked back down and waved at the middle of the Arc, where we had noticed a camera that is projected to those on top. Hello up there!
We then caught the metro to the Eiffel Tower, which we actually planned to go up this time. On the way we spotted the Australian embassy and the Aussie flag flying in front of the Eiffel Tower! Unfortunately the top was closed, but we could make it to the second floor. For some ridiculous reason, we decided to climb up the first story where we then had to sit in a café to recover. As we walked around taking photos we noticed an ice skating rink. So Daniel, Dean, Ash and I traded our shoes for free skating and ice skated on the Eiffel Tower. It was a bit of a magical moment.
Being so tired, we opted to catch the lift to the second floor. There we could see the Arc di Triomphe, gardens below and La Grande Roue. It was getting darker, so by the time we got down the bottom of the tower it was lit up and shining across Paris. We walked to the gardens to get our photos before settling in a pub, which had delicious restaurant standard food and a view of the top of the Tower. After dinner, as we headed back toward the Metro the tower began sparkling. This is what the view would have been like on New Years Eve if it hadn’t been so foggy, and it was amazing.
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