Monday October 12 - Eiffel Tower & Shopping

Happy Thanksgiving! We got up early and took the subway to the Eiffel Tower this morning. Touristy but the views are fantastic. Cold and windy up top. At the left is the Arc de Triomphe taken with a telephoto lens from the very top of the tower, the third level.








Here I am on the 2nd level of the tower looking west along the Seine.











The Champs de Mars leads up to the Ecole Militaire. From there we headed over to the Invalides, spectacular dome. We decided not to bother going in to see the Musee de l'Armie. Beyond the Tomb of Napoleon, we doubted we knew enough French history to make sense of it. Just across the street is the Rodin Musee. We got glimpses of the statues in the garden and they were stunning. However, we had forgotten it was Monday and that all museums are closed. Heartbreaking!

Proof that Carl was here and I still shoot crooked photos even with a better camera. I will be better by the end of the trip, I promise!!

The ghost of Julia Child must haunt this place. It is where she bought her cookware when she lived in Paris. It looks like an old hardware store of the type one no longer sees in Canada. Rows of copper pots, 40L stock pots, etc. all in their wrapping. For prices, one takes the stock number then looks the price up in a book on the wall. It's like a huge hardware store for cooks! Beautiful copper cookware, all made in 'France and cheap compared to US prices. I bought a small saute pan - the stuff is so heavy it would be impossible to bring more back. See photo below of me holding a pot. That's it for today, off to dinner now and up early tomorrow to get our 9am train to Avignon. A note: you may not hear from us for a couple of days because we're not sure if internet coverage exists at the St.Remy de Provence hotel we will be staying at. Once again, enjoy Thanksgiving and stay warm- we saw it was only 4 degrees today in Toronto!