tour E I F F E L

We finally made it downtown. Jim was able to get off around noon {his first time off in two weeks} and we headed out to check out the city. There is a tourism office just down from our hotel, so I made a visit for some advice on the best way to make it to the sights.
I've learned that there is the Metro {of which I'm not too fond}, and also a train system called the RER which is way better- faster, some above ground, roomier.

It's all pretty dirty, but the Metro is more of a nasty, underground subway. On our way in, we somehow made it to the Metro. Jim was on the RER- which is part of the reason he didn't understand why I was so freaked out. He gets it now. Thank goodness we're all going back together.

Don't know if I could handle doing it on my own again!

I think I used to be quite independent and much more adventurous. Sticking me out on five acres off our dirt road in Kansas took any of the city girl out of me that I might have had left.

Yesterday, we bought one-day passes for us mostly on the RER- what a world of difference. I'm still not a huge fan, but I wasn't freaked out. Maybe having Jim take charge had something to do with that as well. So, for transportation alone, we took the shuttle to the airport, the RER train downtown.

Just for transportation tickets down and back for our family, it was about $140.00. Nothing fancy, either. For real, this place isn't cheap. Everything is pretty pricey.

My plan was to get off at Notre Dame, then walk to the Eiffel Tower in order to see the sights along the way. After an hour or so of walking and barely moving on the map- we hopped on the train and took it across town. The 30-45 minute walk that I anticipated was way longer.

It was hot, sticky and crowded. There's no way we would have made it on foot. While we were all exhausted, the boys did great. Feeling the aches in our feet and bodies, we were especially proud that the little guys made it with very little complaining.

Notre Dame was closed for indoor tours, but walking around it was pretty cool. The size and history here is impressive in itself. We later ran in to a Priest on the street that told us they had four new priests ordained. Maybe that is why it was closed.

He asked where we were from, I said, "Germany." He said, "Wow- your English is good- not like German." He then told us he's from Houston. Maybe not the brightest, but nice enough.
We made it to the Eiffel Tower- it didn't disappoint. What a beautiful, massive structure. While there was a bit of a line for tickets and crowds {and crowds} of people, we made it to the top and enjoyed the amazing view.

Today, no one wants to go anywhere. Jim has a long day as this is the last day of the Air Show. We plan to relax. I'm not even sure they have the energy to go swimming- not a bad thing.

I'm thinking somewhere calmer and cleaner for our next trip. Maybe, the Alps, Switzerland or Austria. Perhaps rides on chair lifts instead of graffiti-laced Metro systems.

I think we've had our fill of corruption, smoke, crowds and big city for a while.
I never thought I'd say this but, I think we're ready to get back to Germany.