Saturday August 28, 2004
We arrived on time at Charles de Gaulle airport around 6:30 a.m. this morning, in the rain. It took about 2 hours to clear customs, get our bags and take the train downtown. We dropped our bags off at the hotel, and went out for a walk.
We went by the Eiffel Tower, which is quite close to our hotel, the Arc de Triomphe, and walked the entire length of the Champs-Elysses. We passed the obelisk, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Louvre, etc. Many of the major sights, ticked off in short order! I was feeling quite sick this morning, so we stopped for an orange juice, and then later a pizza slice for me, and a ham and cheese panini for Chad on the Ile de Cite.
We then wandered over to Notre Dame. It was sprinkling on and off, and we waited in line for about an hour to get in to climb the tower. We got great close up views of the gargoyles and out over the city as the weather cleared.
After that, it was a long walk back to our hotel in the 9th arrondissement, and we were really crashing at that point. We got to the hotel and napped for about 2 hours. We freshened up upon waking, and then spent some time wandering around metro stations, trying to figure out how to purchase our tickets to Zermatt. Finally, we just went to Gare du Nord and got it done!
It was past 8 p.m. and we were starving. We went to a sidewalk cafe that we happened upon for dinner. I felt much better, and ordered a salade Nicoise and creme caramel. Chad had a poulet & frites (which he was not crazy about).
After dinner, we walked another big loop to the Eiffel Tower, which was now lit up, and along the Seine. Finally, we went back to our hotel. Tomorrow morning I hope to be able to stomach a pain au chocolat, and we’re going to Versailles.
Cook Family Travels 