But why today? Why not yesterday? Good questions that I asked myself. The only answer I could come up with was I didn't consider it yesterday. Yesterday was sunny and cool, today is rainy and cold. So today I should have gone to the Cabinet des Medailles, and yesterday I should have gone up the Eiffel Tower, but NO.... I guess it could be blamed on the television news yesterday where they showed the tower and nobody in line. They were saying that so many things are slow right now. I caught a bus over to Charles de Gaulle Etoile (Arc de Triomphe) and then walked down to the tower. On the way I passed the Place de Des Etats-Unis where there is a memorial to the many U.S. citizens who volunteered and died helping France in the two world wars.
I figured why not, I always wanted to climb the tower, but the last time I didn't because Deb was waiting for me on the ground and I didn't think I'd have the time. Today, with the weather I figured that at least I wouldn't overheat climbing the stairs, and I was right. I was winded, and except for my hands, not cold. I climbed to the second platform, which as it turns out is as far as one can climb, and then rode the elevator to the top. I stopped on the second platform to get a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant, to fortify myself for the climb to the top before I found out that one can't make that climb.
I also wanted to go up because they recently finished restoring Eiffel's personal apartment which he built up there as the tower was being completed. It became a sensation in Paris at the time and people were always angling for an invitation, but few actually received one. One who did was Thomas Edison and they have him, Eiffel, and a woman, shown as manikins,in the apartment visiting. Of course with the rain and clouds I could only get rare glimpses of the city below, and the wind was at least 40 mph on the top. I wandered around for maybe 10 minutes and then went below into the covered area at the top before going down the elevator.
I was pretty damp by the time I got down, so I walked over to where I could catch one of my busses and made my way back to the apartment. I've been snickering at the people wearing the heavy coats, but not today, today I wanted a couple more, over what I already had on.
But why today? Why not yesterday? Good questions that I asked myself. The only answer I could come up with was I didn't consider it yesterday. Yesterday was sunny and cool, today is rainy and cold. So today I should have gone to the Cabinet des Medailles, and yesterday I should have gone up the Eiffel Tower, but NO.... I guess it could be blamed on the television news yesterday where they showed the tower and nobody in line. They were saying that so many things are slow right now. I caught a bus over to Charles de Gaulle Etoile (Arc de Triomphe) and then walked down to the tower. On the way I passed the Place de Des Etats-Unis where there is a memorial to the many U.S. citizens who volunteered and died helping France in the two world wars.
I figured why not, I always wanted to climb the tower, but the last time I didn't because Deb was waiting for me on the ground and I didn't think I'd have the time. Today, with the weather I figured that at least I wouldn't overheat climbing the stairs, and I was right. I was winded, and except for my hands, not cold. I climbed to the second platform, which as it turns out is as far as one can climb, and then rode the elevator to the top. I stopped on the second platform to get a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate croissant, to fortify myself for the climb to the top before I found out that one can't make that climb.
I also wanted to go up because they recently finished restoring Eiffel's personal apartment which he built up there as the tower was being completed. It became a sensation in Paris at the time and people were always angling for an invitation, but few actually received one. One who did was Thomas Edison and they have him, Eiffel, and a woman, shown as manikins,in the apartment visiting. Of course with the rain and clouds I could only get rare glimpses of the city below, and the wind was at least 40 mph on the top. I wandered around for maybe 10 minutes and then went below into the covered area at the top before going down the elevator.
I was pretty damp by the time I got down, so I walked over to where I could catch one of my busses and made my way back to the apartment. I've been snickering at the people wearing the heavy coats, but not today, today I wanted a couple more, over what I already had on.
Brrr!
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