France #9: Halloween costumes: Americans in Paris climbing the Eiffel Tower

   

 

Oct. 31st- Dressed as American tourists in Paris

We arrived in Paris and joined the throngs of people exiting the train station. Managed to keep 6 people more or less together, then dodged out of the station to to rent an uber to take us to our hotel... it took a bit, especially since where we were supposed to meet was in the middle of a construction zone. Passengers & driver finally conspired to be in the same place. Ditched our bags at our hotel and headed out for lunch and a walk.

Apparently the thing to do for kids in Paris on Halloween is to go trick or treating in chaperoned hordes- if a store is decorated, stop in and get a treat. throw some confetti, move on. Make sure you keep your scary-looking adults with you as you traipse down the side walks.

   

We decided our first trip from our hotel should be on foot- a nearly 50 minute hike across Paris towards the Eiffel Tower. Happy to start to see the tower peak out beyond the buildings!

Dodged around the corner and to a park for a better view of the tower. In comparison with Stockholm, we were surprised by the lack of open space in Paris.  When we found it, the grass was blocked off. Time to let the grass recover from the tourist season?  Cool bubble guy.

Who can resist a family photo in front of the Eiffel Tower? 

We neared the base of the tower, figuring we wouldn't have to wait too long to hike up as high as we could get. Incorrect assumption, that... once we made it through the first of two layers of security (note the sign for what you can't bring with you and the wait for security check point #1), the line for tickets to walk up was more than an hour. I have no idea what it was to take the elevators. 

While we waited for our escapade, the elder Fowlers retreated to a cafe. Some views from below-- just a few of the details that caught my attention. 

Free to run up the stairs at last! We have no idea where the crowds- who had also been waiting to hike up the stairs-- vanished to. Platforms were crowded but the steps were not too bad. 

The good news is by the time we were able to climb, the light had faded and the tower was bathed in Halloween-esque lights.

    

  

   

Views from platform #2

 

 

 More photos after we ran back down the stairs, views from the ground... 

  

During our sojourn, Linda and Steve had found a cafe and did some serious research on where we might eat. They found a Moroccan restaurant- Yahmi- not too far from the Louvre. We caught a taxi, made our way to what appeared to be a largely empty restaurant (only tourists eat dinner as early as 7:30 PM), and had an absolutely fabulous meal. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Steve & Linda went back again after we left.

What better to do after finishing dinner but walk the boulevards and bridges of Paris on Halloween night? Apparently France takes Halloween's darker side- we saw more people dressed as zombies than as anything else. I didn't feel right taking pictures of the zombie photo shoot, so you'll just have to imagine. The New York Times has a great write up on Paris' bridges- just came out or we might have had to go over all of them!

We did see the ghostly outline Notre Dame- the actual structure was not at all lit up at night.

We ended our evening waiting for a cab on the perhaps aptly named Rue Dante, leaving the Parisians lined up in costume to get into the bars and further haunt the streets.