A few touristy things we did

We took one of the bateaux-mouches that leaves from the foot of the Eiffel Tower, goes up river past Notre Dame and then turns around and returns to the Eiffel Tower. Each seat has a speaker you hold to your ear that you can program to the language of your choice, desribing the sites as well as music.

We've all seen movies where the river boats, the bateaux-mouches, sail up and down the River Seine. We took the boat

ride our last night in Paris. It was pretty nice, but for first time tourists I have two suggestions: sit on the port side of the boat.....as you go past the island where Notre Dame is located, you will see it. We, unfortunately, were on the starboard side and only saw riverbank views. Second, go during the day. You will see the sights so much better and your photos will turn out better. Because of the speed of the boat, most of my shots were not sharlpy focused in the night.

This is just an artsy shot of the light reflections on the water.

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Our first night in Paris we wandered quite a bit, looking for a jazz club we wanted to enjoy. The show started at 10pm and we finally found the place around 9. They would not let us enter the show area, and we were just really exhausted from the time change/jet lag as well as having just walked maybe 5 or more miles in our wanderings.

We arrived on the left bank of the Seine River just across from Notre Dame around 8pm and enjoyed the night lighting on the cathedral as well as the river. Just as well, we never got back over there again during our stay.

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Invalides is the location of Naoplean's tomb. It is located on the grounds of what is essentially a veterans hospital and there are signs to be quiet as you are in a hospital zone.

The inside of the dome is quite spectacular.

The tomb is quite ornate. Inside are several other metal coffins and we were informed that Napolean was interred in uniform. The area that circles the tomb has carvings on the walls that depict various stages of Napolean's life.

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The Eiffel Tower has long been a symbol of Paris but it wasn't always that way. Built for the Paris Exposition of 1889, it was almost torn down when the lease expired 20 years later. But it was an obvious place for radio transmission and it is now owned by the City of Paris. There is a restaurant on the second level as well as on the top. Both Lisa and I had been up the tower on previous trips and Sue decided she would save the trip up for another visit to Paris.

During the Christmas season there is an hourly colored light display timed to music that lasts about 20 minutes.