Day 27: Paris

Day 27:    Paris        Thursday January 6^th

This has been our most miserable day weather wise, which is disappointing because it was our Eiffel Tower day.  We were amongst the first of the day to take the lift to the second level.   Any disappointment that we were only going to the second level and not right to the top was quickly dispelled when we saw that the top was in cloud and we wouldn’t have been able to see anything if we had gone higher.

Imagine all those wonderful shots that I had been anticipating taking? Well some I was able to get but only under extreme difficulty as the rain was quite heavy.   The shots overlooking Paris were easy enough, but those looking up the tower were really hit and miss with raindrops falling on the lens.  I had a system going that I would set up the shot with my hand over the lens and get Roger to hold the umbrella over the camera.   Then taking my hand away quickly, I just had to hope that a rain drop didn’t get on the lens while the camera did its auto-focus thing and I was able to take the shot.

Now the Eiffel Tower I have no need to describe of course, but some may not know that it was built only as a temporary structure for the 1863 (?) trade fair, to demonstrate the strength of steel.   It was built like a huge meccano set, with thousands of pieces of steel bolted together.   The intention was to deconstruct it after a period of time, but the discovery that its height would enable the erection of a radio mast saved it from its intended demise.   The rest, as they say, is history!

Robyn as a sixteen year old was very much in our thoughts as we ascended the tower.   What a disappointment for her to have to forgo the ascent because she had lost her wallet.  Most blog readers will have long forgotten the saga or will never have known about it, but it was big drama at the time.   I just shudder now when I think that we let our young daughter be in Paris by herself.   What were we thinking of???  I guess that was the beginning of her adventurous spirit!   Anyway Rob, you have well and truly made up for that disappointment so I think you are now over it aren’t you?

From there we went to the wonderful palace of Versailles.  We had both been looking forward to seeing this, one of the historical palaces that we first heard of all those years ago in history lessons. Its modern history is as the location of the signing of the Peace Treaty after World War 1 but today we learned the history of its building and its occupants.   We also discovered that not only was the WW1 treaty signed there in the the Hall of Mirrors, but also the American Declaration of Independence in 1778 (?).   That declaration was written in French and witnesses by the President of France.

We were told some time on our cruise leg of the trip that we would get to refer to ABCs – Another Beautiful  Castle.

Sorry – I will have to leave it there for now.  We have been out tonight and it is 11:15, we have to pack ready to move on to London tomorrow morning and we are both dog tired.  We have come down to McDonalds to post this blog and then will be heading to bed.  Therefore, I’ll finish writing about Versailles and also describe our lovely night of Paris lights tomorrow as we drive.