European update 7/19

Hello all,

Today we ventured off to the Eiffel Tower to look out at Paris. When we got
there we saw an enormous line that was not moving and only a few elevators
going up and down. The top was also temporarily closed. Sigh. Not what we
wanted to see.

We decided to bite the bullet and walk up to the 1st and 2nd levels since
there was practically no line for those. We walked up 650 (approx) stairs.
Way too many for me because we had to walk back down too. So it ended up
being around 1300. Yuck.

Some of you know this already, but I have a bad knee from an injury several
years back. Man, did it come back to haunt me. My knee is killing me now.
MerryK's knee is acting up too. I will most definitely be taking some Advil
tonight to help with the aching pain.

While we were getting hot dogs for lunch, we saw one of the street vendors
get arrested for apparently not having a license. Whenever you see a cop
walking around those vendors run and hide. After a minute or two they come
back out with their rings of Eiffel Tower key chains and little gadgets.
Today dad got hit in the head with one of their flying bird toys. That was
pretty funny. Dad got a kick out of it, too.

In the afternoon we headed over to the Army Museum and Napoleon's tomb. It
was okay. Dad and Mitchell seemed to have the most fun. Towards the end, us
girls were walking fast through the exhibits to find a seat. We would then
sit down and read our books until dad and Mitchell caught up. :)

The last thing we did museum wise was the Rodin Museum. We just popped in to
see the Thinker statue and also The Kiss statue and then left. The nice
thing is that we have Paris museum passes. With these we paid a one time fee
and now we get in to almost all the major sights for free AND we get to skip
the lines. So just going in the Rodin Museum for two things was no problem.
Yay!

Now we are back at the apartment reading our books, emailing, or checking
the blogs that we follow (MerryK).

Tomorrow is Normandy Beach. Sweet!

TTFN! Tah tah for now!

Ladybug

______________________________________


Mitchell lay dead on the floor, with what looked like a stab wound in his
chest. We have a motive, we have a weapon, but can we be sure? Ahem, so
maybe Ladybug's murder mystery that she's reading affected us all a little
too much... ( Mitchell's fine, see later for the explanation of the joke)

Today we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower. Not the highlight of our trip,
given that the top level was closed, and we decided to skip the 3 hour lines
and walk up the 650 steps to the next-to-top level. *wheeze wheeze* Ladybug
and I both have iffy knees, and they were trembling by the time we got down.
That being said, it's an amazing structure and the view was worth it. Though
the elevator mechanism sounds exactly like the TARDIS powering up, which was
rather disconcerting.

We then went to Napoleon's tomb, and after that, the Army Museum nearby.
That was a bit of a boy's museum. ;) Though, I did purchase a very cool
pistol replica, and Doodle got a dagger letter opener. While walking out,
though, we commented on how our weapons couldn't go in our carry-on baggage
at the airport, and someone made a joking comment about having weapons and
"knowing who to blame if we find Mitchell dead. Doodle, in the apartment,
with the letter opener." This joke makes more sense if you know that those
two have been getting on each others' nerves, but especially the last few
days. It's fun to laugh it off in good humor, though.

After that, we made a quick stop at the Rodin Museum to see "The Thinker"
and "The Kiss", but then skipped the rest. By this time, we've figured out
that all European museums and famous buildings have 1 exit and 1 entrance.
To get to that 1 exit, the only way is by walking through every single room
and corridor in the maze they've set up to make security details easy.
Sadly, there are never any maps of how far you've gone, so you never have a
clue when you'll find the end and the exit, especially since there are
dozens of exit signs along the way. We went into the Louvre, for example,
wanting to see two things...we ended up having to go through two whole
floors to reach the exit after we saw what we wanted. Not because we got
lost, but because there was only 1 exit and no shortcuts, and all we could
do was follow the exit signs through room after room. We will certainly
enjoy getting back to America and "You are here" type building maps when
this trip is done.

Now we are back at our apartment, reading before it's dinner time.

MerryK