We wake up to a glorious summer day in Paris and, this time we make it successfully to the Eiffel Tower. As soon as it comes into sight, the girls are completely energized and enraptured. It takes us twenty minutes just to walk a few feet on the Champ-de-Mars, the field in front of the Tower, because first Gigi must take out the new digital camera she got for her birthday and take a picture of the tower, then of her sister in front of the tower, then of her parents, then one of herself. But not to be outdone, Pippa must also take out her new birthday-present-digital camera and pose everybody in varying combinations in front of the tower. Anthony of course needs to take out our high-end digital SLR camera from the snazzy new sling-bag, for which he has just shelled out big bucks, and take photos of the girls and myself in front of this incredible back drop. And after a 12-year marriage of being the photographer in my family, I now find myself in the oddly unsettling position of being the only one not taking pictures. I suppose it's nice that there will finally be photographic proof that I am part of my own family, except that now I will have to brush my hair, since I am the only one available for posing.
Finally, it gets to be too much, and I can no longer resist the urge to take out the spare, smaller digital camera from the fancy bag and start shooting, some of the Eiffel Tower, but mostly of my family taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and some of my family taking pictures of other members of my family taking pictures. It's a true DNA moment, having grown up in a family where Kodak was officially referred to as "the great yellow father." This, however, sends Anthony over the edge, and we finally make it to the Eiffel tower....after we stop for an ice cream. And then, this time really, we are there, waiting in the enormous lines. We choose the stairs option, mainly because the line is shorter. Climb, climb, climb, then elevator up, and we are on the top deck of the Tower. I was determined that this would be the girl's first experience in Paris -- touristy, yes, but also iconic and memorable. And we have the photos to prove it.
Over the Seine to the Trocadero, where the fountains are on in full force. Gigi gets herself soaked then back to our little apartment on the 6th floor to dry off and have dinner. We are eating in, though we have few ingredients, for a few reasons. One is that it is August, and virtually everything is closed. The girls now firmly believe that Paris is a super quiet, unpopulated city, where it is almost impossible to find something to eat. Though we have promised pastries -- not just today or yesterday, but for months leading up to this move -- we are unable to deliver. We cannot find an open pâtisserie! Also, the one cafe we did find that was open, where we ended up having a lunch yesterday, was probably meant for tourists. Or it just wasn't very good. Sacrilege alert: I think the food in most French cafes is pretty awful. Perhaps I am ordering the wrong things, or going to the wrong cafes, but I find that picking one at random almost never gets me a good meal. But I have to pay for it, dearly.
From our apartment, we can see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. A perfect ending to our first real day! Naturally, the girls and Anthony cannot stop sticking their heads out the window and taking photos.
Finally, it gets to be too much, and I can no longer resist the urge to take out the spare, smaller digital camera from the fancy bag and start shooting, some of the Eiffel Tower, but mostly of my family taking pictures of the Eiffel Tower, and some of my family taking pictures of other members of my family taking pictures. It's a true DNA moment, having grown up in a family where Kodak was officially referred to as "the great yellow father." This, however, sends Anthony over the edge, and we finally make it to the Eiffel tower....after we stop for an ice cream. And then, this time really, we are there, waiting in the enormous lines. We choose the stairs option, mainly because the line is shorter. Climb, climb, climb, then elevator up, and we are on the top deck of the Tower. I was determined that this would be the girl's first experience in Paris -- touristy, yes, but also iconic and memorable. And we have the photos to prove it.
Over the Seine to the Trocadero, where the fountains are on in full force. Gigi gets herself soaked then back to our little apartment on the 6th floor to dry off and have dinner. We are eating in, though we have few ingredients, for a few reasons. One is that it is August, and virtually everything is closed. The girls now firmly believe that Paris is a super quiet, unpopulated city, where it is almost impossible to find something to eat. Though we have promised pastries -- not just today or yesterday, but for months leading up to this move -- we are unable to deliver. We cannot find an open pâtisserie! Also, the one cafe we did find that was open, where we ended up having a lunch yesterday, was probably meant for tourists. Or it just wasn't very good. Sacrilege alert: I think the food in most French cafes is pretty awful. Perhaps I am ordering the wrong things, or going to the wrong cafes, but I find that picking one at random almost never gets me a good meal. But I have to pay for it, dearly.
From our apartment, we can see the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. A perfect ending to our first real day! Naturally, the girls and Anthony cannot stop sticking their heads out the window and taking photos.
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