We ate breakfast in hotel this morning, they had hard boiled eggs, croissants, fruits and cold cereal. It was quick and easy so we could get our start on the day.
We met up with Yoyo & Delphine's friend, Virginie as she is going to spend the day with us.
The first place we visited was Notre Dame. This is on an island on the Seine and is spectacular. We went inside with the throng of people and found there was a funeral going on for one of the priests. 
The inside of the church is awesome and we also got to see what it’s like when there is a service going on. There was roped off areas that we could walk along and see the church. And when the funeral procession needed to pass we would be stopped and they would go past us.
We then went outside to get to where the tower tours began. We climbed a spiral staircase to see the great view of Paris and to see the Gargoyles. The stairs going up are made of stone or marble, I’m not sure which. But they are very worn over the many hundreds of years people have been using them. Once you half way up the towers you get to see the Gargoyles. They are all around the perimeter and are all different. They sure add to the view as it’s a beautiful day with just enough clouds to add to the scenery. I didn’t go up into the bell tower as it looked pretty steep and I would rather look and photograph the views.
After we were done here it was getting to be later morning so we walked along the Seine River. There is a lot of traffic on the river with the majority being open cruise boats.
We found a restaurant that we were going to have lunch at which is near the Louvre. It was getting pretty hot and thought we might want to eat outside but it was very busy. And people can take hours to eat their lunch. But when we went inside we found that even though they don’t have air conditioning it wasn’t too bad inside. They had all the windows open and the ceiling fans on so it was very pleasant. We finished our meal so while Mia, Thierry & Virginia had coffee Wes went outside and took a few pictures. I hung inside for a while and then went outside as there was a small sidewalk gift shop to browse in. In the few minutes I was getting some postcards Wes saw two blonde girls with large sunglasses walk across the sidewalk and through a gateway hotly pursued by some paparazzi. There were about 5 to 7 photographers running around the girls taking photos. Wes had no idea who they were but we then remembered the Cannes film fest going on in South France right now and Paris Hilton was reported to be in Paris on her way to Cannes. So perhaps?
After we all felt more refreshed we walked through the huge center courtyard of the Louvre.
The Louvre is a very large art museum in the shape of a ‘U’. The open area in the center has a fairly new, all glass pyramid surrounded by pools which is used as the entrance. Even on the outside it’s a gorgeous building with large statues adorning nearly every façade and corner.
From there it was a quick jaunt to visit the Eiffel Tower. As Paris has almost no buildings over 4 to 5 stories you can see the Eiffel from quite a distance. And to think when it was new the Parisians hated it and it was going to be torn down after the world’s fair.
As we got closer to the park around the tower there was a small lake with a lot of trees and we saw a blue heron. We was fine with us being so close and it never did fly away. I went back after a couple of hours and it was still there but in a different part of the lake.
We had heard that there can be a wait to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower of 2 to 4 hours if you‘re lucky. Well, we were very lucky as there was only a ½ hour wait to go up to level 2. Then you change to another elevator to go to the top and that was 45 minutes. The first elevator gives you a strange sensation as it travels along at an angle and then shifts so it goes straight up.
It was a gorgeous day to be up in the tower with incredible views.
While we were up at the top there were two monks there and some people around them became very excited upon seeing them. They were even asking if they could have their photos taken with him. One man even became really giddy about this and was acting like the monk was a celebrity. They were dressed in gold yoga type gowns with shaved heads. And I just couldn’t bring myself to ask or even try to nonchalantly get him in a photo full face. I did take a couple just to show them but that was it.
As the afternoon was getting late we headed to the dock where the boat was for our dinner cruise on the Seine. We had some trouble finding the dock and had to do some back tracking. But thank goodness for Thierry who could read the signs and we found the dock in plenty of time. We had some really great food for dinner as we cruised along the river. It is amazing just how many boats are cruising along the river and sunset is a wildly busy time here as it’s just gorgeous.
All along the banks are boats of which many are houseboats that people live in. And the banks are also
full of performers and people just there to watch the sunset.
So as the sun is going down everything turns that beautiful gold and the lights begin to come on and the sunset did not disappoint. It was one beautiful night. I would eat a course then pop up to the upper deck to see and photograph the incredible views.
Here is Thierry at our table on the dinner cruise.
And here is Virginie.
And Mia.
And the many, many beautiful sights as we cruised down the Seine.
It had been a day beyond belief but it was also a very hectic day.
As I had noted Wes has been fighting a cold, had been buzzing through Paris nonstop so when we finally got back to our hotel we were beat, especially the sick dude, Wes.Mia, Thierry and Virginie continued their day at a bar across the street. I think they said they got in around 1.
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