La Tour Eiffel

A while back (almost two years, I think), Erick and I took our kids to Paris. The problem? It was right in the middle of Europe's spring break vacation. The place was crowded. The lines to go up the Eiffel Tower seemed miles long. I don't like crowds, and I was not willing to wait in line with all the kids for hours. So we skipped it. We bribed the kids with some ice cream and moved on to the next site assuring them that we would come back to Paris again soon. Well my girls didn't forget those assurances. And they wouldn't let me forget either...

I'm happy to announce that Erick and I did it. We brought the kids back to Paris to go up the Eiffel Tower:

The line to go up the elevator was still too long for my taste. But there was almost no line to climb the stairs. That's the route we took. They have no stroller parking around the Eiffel Tower. If you want to keep it, you have to carry it. So I carried the folded stroller while Erick carried David. After the first 100 stairs, I thought that the elevator line wasn't looking so long after all. 

The kids were champs! They climbed over 670 steps with no complaining. And that's just going up! We still had to come down.

I loved the mannequins they had dressed in workers clothes and outfitted with climbing gear. They were out on the tower showing how workers climb and repair this massive structure. I dig this guy's mustache:

At level one:

I don't know what Joey was doing. It looked like she was trying to open that tiny door. I'm glad she didn't succeed:

Trocadero:

For some reason, the time I spent in the tower made me feel a little homesick for when I lived here as a missionary. The buildings, the buses, the trees... none of it has changed in the last 13 years. At least it hasn't changed from this angle:

I loved sharing this with my family:

Here is Le Champs de Mars. I showed the kids where the elders would play 'le foot' on P-day with investigators and other missionaries:

Here is the view from level two. At this point it started raining a bit.

The very top of the Eiffel Tower was closed when we got there. Can you see how disappointed David is about that?

Just kidding. David could care less. He was actually crying because he wanted his dad, but Erick had taken the other kids to go see something up on the platform above this level. What can I say? He loves his dad!

The very top of the tower opened after a while, but the line was so long, we opted to call it good. The kids all agreed whole-heartedly.

A few last pictures from the tower:

Love that you can see a tiny Sacre Coeur in the background:

Good bye Eiffel Tower, and thanks for the workout:

Now it's time for a snack!