Last Day in Paris

We decided to finish by revisiting a few Parisian icons today, starting with the Eiffel Tower - depending on how long the queue at the ticket offices was.  It is the middle of winter after all, so there shouldn't be too many tourists.  In fact there were hundreds in the queue for the elevator-assisted ascent, but the walk-up-the-stairs queue was not too long so we joined that.

We survived the 670-step climb to level 2 of the tower, and decided that was a good place to stop.  It was crowded with lazy people who had come up in the lift, and the half dozen little shops up there were closed, with "On Strike" notices taped to their windows.  Reminded me of the regular school holiday Cook Strait ferry strikes in NZ in the good old days.

Eiffel Tower looking up from level two

We followed the "Banks of the Seine" walk up the river and crossed over on the Pont Alexander bridge, deciding to head for the the Petit Palais gallery for lunch.

Crossing the Seine on Pont Alexander

On the Champs Elysees we joined the crowds strolling through the Christmas markets, which are a very popular destination for all ages.  There are hundreds of booths selling everything under the sun, and thousands of people there to shop or just see the sights.  We saw Santa's sleigh poised high overhead, ready for flight later in the evening no doubt.

Santa's sleigh waiting for the moment

We reached the Arc de Triomphe and turned at that point to start the walk home.  The plan was to take the metro, but when we descended to the station we found it jammed with people, and the train when it arrived was so packed we could not face trying to force our way on.  In the end we had to walk all the way home, arriving with rather tired feet.  Time to pack for the trip home.