Day 5

Day 5

Goal: Bell-tower de Notre Dame

So the other day when we went to visit Notre Dame we decided that the line for the Bell tower was going to be a little too long for us to want to stand in it.
So today's the day we stand in line.

With our Paris Museum Pass we haven't had to stand in line yet, but due to "security reasons" we are not allowed to hop in front. I guess this is the day for lines. As we start walking to the end of the line (I think I see it 100m down... great) Allison is bombarded by a man in an old man mask (sa nez est tres grand) and I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty funny. Don't cry Allison, it's gonna be okay. This man proceeded to entertain us the last 30 minutes of our time in line by obnoxiously scaring people holding their hands pretending to be spouses or people's children and then when they looked down.. Ahh! and he'd run away before anyone had to time to catch him with a nice upper-cut. It was pretty funny, until we realized we were standing in the same spot for 30 minutes then we were just upset we spent so much time watching this man scare and amuse tourists.

The line moves, we start going up the bell tower. Funny this seems just like the same staircase up to the top of Arc de Triomphe, and it's long, very long. Much smaller steps than the Triomphe as well. Good thing we were prepared for this? By the top (another hot day) we were sweating incredibly (well, as much as girls do, we are delicate flowers after all) and took a great deal of time to look at the view from the top, along with air out a bit.

I think the best part is watching everyone else coming up the staris behind us, some more fit, some gasping for air much harder then we were. Some swearing if they did this every day they'd have immaculate bodies.

We follow along the netted area to an area that we can go up to see the Bell that Qasimodo swings from in Victor Hugo's novel. I'm pretty sure the small awkward man leading us up and down the small wooden steps to the bell might have been in fact a descendant of Qasimodo. He sure looked like the picture they portrayed at the bell and was making some pretty dramatic movements that resembled the character.

This is the first time I'll ever say that the trip down from the Bell Tower was harder than the trip up. I think the mixture of small steps (walking down on your toes) and swirling staircase (my brain is fried) was mostly the cause.

Today's the day we meet Joey and Megan coming in to Charles de Gaulle from London. How nice to see some friendly faces! We meet them in La Marais and head back to the apartment to unpack a few things.

Tonight's the night for the Eiffel Tower! Of course our "museum" pass doesn't cover the entrance fee but we find out it's not so much to get in, but the lines are ridiculous, like I said, the day for lines, we haven't had to get in lines since we bought the darn pass. As cliche as it is, we want to go, and after about an hour of lines and some elevator rides we make it to the top. Gorgeous view of course and a very beautiful night.

Hunger sets in, Megan and I take the stairs down (not as scary as it sounds) take a few lovely pictures under the Eiffel Tower and set off to find an open cafe. We head to the metro and about 6 train switches later we come up to the Latin Quarter to a slightly more expensive cafe where the cappuccinos are 7,50 euro and probably the best I've ever had (for a $10 coffee it better be!)

And so it's about 230am and I think we have had enough Parisian talk for one night, we take a taxi home to the other side of Paris and still don't go to bed. I guess big slumber parties are our thing when you have friends come and visit in Paris.