What a tiring day! Left the hotel around 10.30a this morning and walked to the center of town. By that time, Renee and I were starving so we had a bite to eat. During lunch, we met some folks from Australia and they were pretty friendly. With a full stomach, we went to check out the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was grand. Everything inside was amazing and reminded me of the cathedral I visited when I was in Montréal. After that holy experience, we set onto our next experience. Although not holy, it sure felt pretty close to heaven: The Eiffel Tower! After the walk to the cathedral, we decided it was time for the bikes again. The Eiffel Tower isn’t really that close unless you have a car or take the bus/metro. But we were strong and tough and peddled all the way.

Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Joan of Arc.

The Eiffel Tower.

Wow, if you’ve never seen the tower in real life, what you see in pictures and movies just don’t do it any justice. The structure is just so huge and extravagant, it’s definitely a sight to behold. We walked up to the first and second floors (all 668 steps) and the view was magnificent. But it paled in comparison to what we saw when we took the elevator to the third floor at the very top. You could see for miles upon miles! All the major monuments were identifiable and it was just incredible to see all of Paris from that view. If there is one thing I can recommend to those visiting Paris, it’s to go all the way to the top and try to time it like we did. We went up to the first and second floor and it was still daylight. But when we went to the third floor, the sun was just beginning to set and it gave Paris a whole new view. Simply amazing!

Sunset over Paris. This was the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower, all lit up at night.

After that breathtaking experience, we hopped back on the bikes and headed off to see the Arc de Triomphe. It was just like I imagined, complete with all the traffic. On the way there, we also stopped at the Statue of Liberty (it’s not just in New York). Finally, we ended the day with dinner in the city center and returned back to our hotel at midnight, a good 13.5 hours since we last step out of our room. It’s been a long day and there’s still more to do tomorrow. We’ve planned a trip to the Louvre Museum and afterwards, I’m going to attempt to find the Moulin Rouge.

The Statue of Liberty.

Me at the Arc de Triomphe.

The Obélisque de Luxor.