Eiffel Tower and Montmartre

This morning we were rushed off at 8am by Fatima, our new drill sergeant.  We arrived at the base of the Montmartre hill, in front of the historic Moulin Rouge, at 8:45. This gave us a comfortable 45 minute cushion to wait for our 9:30 tour. We sat on the boulevard waiting. After an hour we realized the tour guide wasn't just late, but something was amiss. After a few phone calls, the company admitted they did not have our reservation, and managed to wake up a tour guide who was at home sleeping. He arrived by 10:15 to give us our now abbreviated tour. Despite the disappointing start to the day, the tour itself was good, even if it did involve climbing the biggest hill in Paris. We saw several old mills, the city's only winery (apparently it makes crap wine), and the artist's square, the Place du Tertre. Around the corner at the apex of the hill is the basilica of Sacre-Couer, which commands a breathtaking view of the city below.

After the tour, we were given around an hour and a half to do some shopping at the Tertre and get lunch. Then we headed down to the Trocadero metro stop to get an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower as we approached from the northwest. After some pictures on the Esplande du Trocadero we walked down across the river to the tower itself. We broke into smaller groups based on who wanted to take the elevator and who wanted to climb the stairs. I chose the daring group that was looking for exercise. 670 stairs later we had a great view from the second level.

At this point you are still only 100 meters of the 300 meter total height of the Tour Eiffel. There are a further 1200 stairs which lead to the top, but they are not open to the public. So we had to shell out an extra 6 Euros to take the elevator to the top. It was definitely worth it, as the view is simply too much for words, in every direction.

After our descent, I grabbed a raspberry sorbet on our way to the banks of the Seine for a boat tour of the river. This gave us a perfect chance to sit down and cool off while seeing what the river has to offer: views of the Musee d'Orsay, Louvre, Notre Dame, National Assembly, and of course all the historic bridges across the river itself. It was a nice way to end the evening.