Eiffel Tower - February 15, 2020 

Paris is always voted one of the most romantic places in the world. What is synonymous with Paris? The Eiffel Tower! Right off the bat, when you arrive, it is something unique and different. The Eiffel Tower isn't an imposing structure, it is 1063 feet tall, but it doesn't look towering. However, the atmosphere is amazing. I know it is mostly tourist. But couples are there for one reason. It is to be in one of the most romantic locations in the world. You can feel that energy when you are there. Being that it was Valentine's Day weekend, what better way to show Michelle and Malia a romantic time under the Eiffel Tower. 

Let us start on the Paris Metro. So, I thought the Regional C aka RER C took us to the Eiffel Tower. It looked like it was on the map. However, it stopped at Musee d' Orsay. That was a curve ball I wasn't prepared for. I scrambled and looked at the map. I couldn't do it because our map did not have the bus routes. I asked someone at the desk. They told me bus number 69. And Yes most people speak English in Paris, but not so much in the other parts of France.  

Bus 69 takes you to the Eiffel Tower. As we rode in the bus, the Eiffel Tower beckoned. It feels like a momentous occasion. We were so excited. We got off the bus and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. Talk about going to a bucket list destination. By now it was almost dark.

Initially, I didn't want to go to the top. For sure Jared wasn't going to the top since he is scared of heights. But Mary was like, "NO WE ARE GOING TO THE TOP". Shell decided to stay with Jared. Getting into the Eiffel Tower took about 20 minutes since the guards had to check our bags. The one thing I noticed while standing in the lines, was that people seemed so happy. I think we all had one thing in common and that was to be here at this moment. We didn't buy tickets to the top beforehand, so we had to wait in line. It took about 45 minutes, but probably not as long as if it was peak season. It must be madness during peak season. Being that it was February, it is considered off season in Europe.

Shell and Jared went to get dinner while Malia and I went to the second floor, then to the top. It cost about €38 for the two of us. The lift took us to the second floor and the ascenseur (elevator) took us to the top. It started to rain. Being that it was super windy today, part of the top was unobservable. It was freakin windy. Most of the tourists stayed in one area. At the top was awesome. Especially at night, it was a fun experience looking over Paris at night. At the top, I notice the bumper to bumper traffic below. Thank god I didn't drive in the city. If you do drive in Paris, good luck. I've heard it is like driving in New York City. 

While going down, Malia wanted to eat in the cafe. She bought a pesto panini. It was pretty good. One benefit of Paris is the food. The food is top notch. Everything tastes clean and fresh. You can tell Parisians take a lot of pride in their food. Everything from picking the right ingredients to cooking techniques and even their presentations are on point. The French are like the Japanese when it comes to food, high quality and high class. They treat the entire process with respect.  

When we got down, we saw Shell and Jared. Michelle was freezing. The rain and cold weather was making things a little hard. Being that it was night, the temperature dropped into the 30s. I had my gloves, beanie, and scarf, but Shell was so stubborn she didn't want my scarf. Mary took my beanie and I used my jacket hood for warmth. 

It was night fall. The Eiffel Tower looks amazing at night, see the pictures below.

Trying to get back to the hotel was an adventure. On bus 69, we had to get back to the train station at Chatlet. But we missed the stop. Mary said she told me when she heard the bus stop, but I must have not heard her. That was a huge mistake as there was no other bus that could take us to RER C. We had to figure things out. It was an ordeal. We had to catch multiple buses to the Metro Station. Then catch multiple Metros to get to the RER B which is the line for the train station near our hotel. While waiting for the RER B, the monitor said the RER B was retarded. I was thinking why is our metro RETARDED? The kids laughed when I said that out loud. I looked up the word retarded on my google translate it so happens that retardé means delayed.  That was an ah-ha moment for me. I used to get mad when students would call my special education students retarded, but in French it means delayed. On with the story.

When we got to our metro station, bus 616 that was supposed to take us back to our hotel was not in service. We had to catch another bus and walk 1.5 miles back to our hotel. That is the best I can say about the experience without throwing out curse words. We got back to the Novotel at 1am. As terrible an experience as it was, we problem solved the situation and the family did great under adversity. I was so proud of them for keeping their cool and taking care of the task at hand. It was impressive and showed me a lot about our family.