Paris with Kids, Part Three - The Eiffel Tower

The walk from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower was long. We would end up walking nine miles out first day and over 11 our second day in Paris. Elise wore her iWatch, and the kids would get excited every time she closed a “ring” (signifying a daily achievement such as miles walked, calories burned, or time standing. The irony Apple is marketing a watch that reminds us to stand up is not lost on me; I wish there was a watch that reminded me to sit down!).

Another significant milestone achieved on this trip was out sleeping arrangements. Now that the kids are a little bit older (and bigger!) we’ve been needing a little bit more space when we travel. There are still times we get one room with double queen beds and put Sam between them on the floor, but other times we splurge for two connecting rooms so the kids can have their own space and experience a sense of autonomy.

I reserved two rooms in Paris, but upon check-in was notified the hotel did not have connecting rooms. Not that they weren’t available...they didn’t exist in the first place. 

Before bed, we would do showers, brush teeth, and turn on floor the little lights. The three of them are lined up like sardines in a can in the queen-sized bed. From left to right, Clementine, Peter in the middle, and Sam. I wedge myself in between Clem and Peter. They fall asleep within seconds, but not before I instruct them not to open the door for anyone. I tell them I will check on them as soon as I wake up in the morning. “If you wake up early, go ahead and turn on the TV and watch cartoons.” They have Nickelodeon. In French. 

The next morning Peter reported Sam was laying on top of him when he woke up which prompted me to tell them about the time my brothers, dad, and I took my dad’s boat to the Bahamas, got trapped in a secluded harbor by the tide, and all four of us had to sleep in the cabin below because of a rain on boat cushions no bigger than a twin-size bed. Like Sam, I slept spread eagle, arms and legs all over the place, much to the chagrin of my dad and brothers. 

Elise and I had gone up in the Eiffel Tower on our first visit to Paris. We both remember it as being a long affair, standing in an interminable queue in tight quarters, in a narrow metal stairwell or small elevator car. Since we were only in Paris two days, we told the kids we could go see the Eiffel Tower, but it was unlikely we were going to spend the time required to go up it since we didn’t have much time on the ground to begin with. 

But once we arrived at the base of the tower, Inrealized it wasn’t very fair to rob them of the experience. How could we come all this way only to tell them they couldn’t go up in the actual tower. 

We agreed they could go up to the first level using the stairs. Not surprisingly, the line to use the stairs was MUCH shorter than the line for the elevators, so Peter, Sam, and I decided to go up while Elise and Clementine waited for us down below.

 

Elise and Clementine treated themselves to French fried while they waited.

Mercifully, we took a taxi back to the starting point, Notre Dame. We did a quick costume change at the hotel before heading out for dinner. 

I had an odd craving for Indian but we ended up finding a lovely French cafe called — appropriately enough — LouLou. A young man sitting at the bar was LouLou, presumably the proprietor ofbthe establishment who did an amazing Trump impersonation for our benefit. We tolerated it because the food was really good, the young waiter kind, and Lagunitas IPA on draft.