Tuesday March 31, 2026 To The Eiffel Tower

By Ellen Outten

 

We should have caught up on our sleep.  I was in bed at 7:30 and with the help of a Benadryl, slept most of the night with just a few awakenings.   Up at 6:45 am and in the taxi at 8 am for the 20 minute ride to the Eiffel Tower.   I booked a tour for us at 9 am and glad I did.   I presumed it would be about an hour there and it turned out to be more like two hours.   Lots of waiting in line and various screening steps made everything take more time.

The elevator in orange taking the journey up to the summit 



The famous Hôtel des Invalides houses Napoleon’s timb

And a look at the Arc de Triumph from the 2nd level of the Eiffel Tower 

More views from the summit




We rode to the 2nd level for a talk from our guide ans he pointed out landmarks  and then we rode a separate elevator straight to the summit for more viewing.  It was pretty cold when we left the hotel, about 47 degrees.  The 2nd level was open, just some open wire fencing and it really was chilly.  The summit is enclosed and was actually warmer with heaters overhead to help as well.  As we rode down, we stopped at the first level for some very needed hot coffee.  

We left the Eiffel Tower and instead of a taxi, we took the Metro or underground train back to our hotel.  This is a first for me as I’ve never taken public transit in a foreign country.  All in all, very easy.  Downloading the app helped immensely and I bought our tickets on my cellphone and Apple Pay.  It was only a 15 minute ride and put us within 1/2 mile of our hotel.  You can’t beat it for 2.55 euro instead of a 27 euro taxi. 

This afternoon we scheduled a cooking class at Le Foodist and learned how to make French macaroons.  The class lasted three hours and overall was well done.  There were 7 in the class; grandparents with their 14 year old granddaughter.  Another grandmother and her 16 year old granddaughter.  I wanted to tell her to marry rich.  The 14 year old was much better.  

Bettiann and I made the green or pistachio macaroons.    The other groups made orange, lemon, vanilla.  At the end, we sampled and tasted everyone’s.  We were able to each take home about 4 dozen.  We’ll see if they make it back to the states.

Inside the cooking school 

We were early so the Chef gave us his apple terrine from the previous class just finishing bed our class started 

Bettiann making the pistachio filling for the macaroons 


Missing the almond flour, sugar and pistachio powder for the shells





The results of our 3 hours of labor

A peek into one of the other group’s bowls

Our take home rewards


After class we stopped for dinner, class was 3 pm - 6 pm.  Dinner was at an Italian restaurant. The meal was veal Marsala and it tasted absolutely nothing like any Marsala I’ve ever tasted.  It was sweet and the pasta side had no red sauce; just the Marsala sauce on the plate which the pasta sat on .  Good but not at all what I expected.


We can sleep in tomorrow morning.  Nothing early is planned.    We’re going to find a patisserie for a light breakfast and walk to an outdoor food market for a look.  Then a taxi ride to the ship probably boarding for lunch even though we can’t  get into our stateroom until 3 pm.  













Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 31, 2026 at 12:18 PM

    Loved all the pictures. Looks like a trip of a lifetime.
    Gloria

    ReplyDelete

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