Day 3- Paris

We only had two full days in Paris, so going to the Eiffel Tower was the only other thing we wanted to make sure we did. Thursday came and it was rainy in the morning, so we decided to browse a huge department store called Galeries Lafayette. No purchases were made since the merchandise was largely designer stuff. I believe one entire floor was devoted to women's shoes.

After a short time there, it had cleared up a little and there were just light intermittent showers, so we walked around the area looking for a toy store that I had discovered online. I had us walking in the wrong direction for a few blocks, so we got turned around the right way and after several blocks and a few glances at the map, we finally found the store. We walked up to the door and it was closed or had moved or something. Oops. Wasted about an hour on that one.

We hopped on the subway and had lunch at Hard Rock and then walked to a passage nearby. We saw several of these passages. They're like pedestrian alleyways lined with shops. It would be a lot of fun to hit a bunch of the passages if you had the time (and if your significant other enjoyed shopping). We went into a couple of small toy stores and found some unique toys to bring back for the kids. Now this is a toy store. Look how charming this store front is. So much more character than Toys R Us or Wal-Mart.


The rain had passed through so it was clear enough to do the Eiffel Tower. That thing is massive. We opted for the elevator, but for a cheaper price you can take the stairs. The Eiffel Tower is basically a whole lot of waiting. You wait to buy tickets, then wait to get on the elevator going to the first level. Then you get off and look around, take some pictures, buy some souvenirs, then wait to get on another elevator going to the top, look around some more and then wait to get on the elevator to go back down. And this was during the week on a chilly, overcast day. I can't imagine what the wait must be at the height of tourist season.

In this first picture, you can see the Arc de Triomphe. Such a tiny thing from way up there. It got chillier and windier the higher up we went. The wind was ridiculous up at the very top.





Oh, I have a quick story I need to tell about my encounter with a subway turnstile. In the Paris subway, you feed your ticket into the slot and then proceed through a turnstile and a small gate. The gate is a little hard to push. Well, I got through the turnstile and pushed on the gate but I guess I didn't push hard enough and it locked back. So I was stuck in the tiny area between the turnstile and the gate. At this point, we weren't sure if the ticket was valid for only one trip or if it was good for a length of time. So I climb halfway over, reach way back and with one leg sticking over the turnstile, I try to stick the ticket in again. Nope. Only good for one trip. So there I sat with a leg hiked up over the waist high turnstile. I eventually had to climb over a waist high section next to the gate. My husband loves me. There is no photographic evidence of the aforementioned scene. He did, however, have a look on his face that said, "Really, Kelsey? Are you really stuck in a subway turnstile?"