Day 19

Rue de Rivoli is bustling on Saturdays like this one – it’s warm and sunny and the shops are all open (unlike on Sundays when most close). I’ve been in the market for a new pair of shoes for the past couple weeks, and I found a cool pair of adidas that should do well for all the walking we’re doing.

After getting a late start (which seems to be a trend lately) and strolling around the shops, we went for a late lunch/early dinner at Creperie Beaubourg, the one near Centre Pompidou. We both got the Speciale, with ham, cheese, egg, tomatoes, and a side salad. On the sweeter side, I had a crepe cirton (sugar and lemon) and Kyle had an extravagant crepe of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and hazelnuts.

We stopped back at the apartment for a quick rest, then at about 8:30 we headed to the Eiffel Tower. We’d been up before during the day, so this time we wanted to try it at night. Also, this time we decided to take the stairs. Maybe a crazy move, yes, but hey, my calves look great now! Haha. The stairs save you three euro off the elevator price, and the line is less than half the length of the elevator line. The stairs get you up to the second level, where the Jules Verne restaurant is, about halfway up the full height of the tower. Beyond that, you hop on the elevator to get the rest of the way to the top. It was a warm, muggy day, and especially after walking all those stairs we were feeling pretty gross, but at the top it’s all cool and breezy. We took lots of pictures of the view and the lights all around. We stayed up there until just after midnight – long enough to see the flashing lights (tons of white lights flicker every hour when it’s dark). We got back down as quickly as we could, and headed for the metro, when we caught the second to last train of the night (whew!) at 12:45 to make the 15 stops back to our place, arriving some time past one. A long night, but well worth it!

-Steph