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Paris, part 2

According to the kids Eiffel Tower is the best thing we saw in Paris, and I have to say that I am bit surprised.  It was the coldest, most miserable day that we've seen in Europe so far.  The line to get the tickets and to to up the Eiffel Tower was about 2.5 hours with really no way to get in or out of the line.  Anton screamed for at least an hour, Andrei has had enough after 30 minutes in line but we pushed on!  In fact it was so cold that top observation deck for closed due to wind so we could only go up to the second floor.  When it was time to go back down, the idea of yet another line with kids was petrifying and I opted to walk down with Andrei and Ilya.  Somehow, all over the sudden it seemed like a good idea to everybody so there we are - Ilya leading the troops, Andrei who is mildly terrified of heights so holding onto the railing with one hand and my hand with his other, I am holding Andrei and stroller, Chris is holding Anton's hand, and Suzanne at the end.  But yes, we all walked down from the second floor of the Eiffel Tower down to the first and it was windy and cold!  Thankfully, there was a little coffee and we managed to grab some sandwiches and a cup of soup before we continued our adventures. Unfortunately, at this point it was nealy 2PM and while the plan was to go to Eiffel Tower and come back to the apartment for nap time, it just didn't make sense at this point.  We decided to push on to see Notre Dame.  Unfortunately, by this time Andrei has had enough sightseeing and was absolutely ready to go back to the apartment but I managed to convince him to make the best of it.

Notre Dame was magnificent but I opted to wait outside with Andrei while Suzanne, Chris, Ilya and Anton went inside.  Andrei learned all about the art of photography (which I clearly need to learn more about myself) and took a ton of pictures outside of Notre Dame.  When our little group got back together, we stopped by a little place for some much needed crepes with hot chocolate or hot wine depending on your desires and age but unfortunately my camera has had enough and the battery died.  Nope, no phone on me either because my plan doesn't include services outside of Germany.  After that we finally managed to get our little exhausted crew back to the apartment.  More pictures to follow ...

Andrei is in the stroller in the middle of the pic




Dome of X-mas trees under the Eiffel Tower

Andrei's view up



Hot chocolate


Beautiful view with exhausted child


In front of Notre Dame




Comments

Anonymous said…
Things I gathered from this post:
1a. You got to take your kids to Paris! That makes you awesome parents.
1b. The kiddos are awesome.
2. Invest in a good camera!
3. We miss you guys!
4. Invest in a good camera!

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