Day 1  Travel and the Eiffel Tower of Paris

We left home at 11:00 a.m. to catch our flights to Paris.  All went smoothly; we managed to get to our second flight with time to spare, even with only a 40 minute layover.  We arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris about 8:30 a.m. Paris time, and were met by the Tour people and taken to the Riverboat.  We arrived at the boat at about 10:00 a.m.   Our trip from home to our Paris destination took about 16 hours.  The long flight was about 9.5 hours and was relatively comfortable -- the plane, a Boeing 767, was full, but the seats were acceptable, the entertainment system worked, and the other passengers were reasonable people.  The trip was uneventful.

After we arrived at the boat, we were served a light lunch of salads, sandwiches, and pasta.  It kept us going.  We knew that our rooms would not be ready until 3:00 p.m., so we began looking around the area.  The day was clear and sunny, the temperature was mild (about 20 degrees C.); it was very pleasant.

From the boat, we could see the Eiffel Tower.  It was about 2 kilometers from the boat's docking place on the same side of the Seine River.  The Eiffel Tower was one of the sights of Paris that we were eager to see, so we started out to walk to the Tower and explore the area.  We found that the river front was well developed and attractive with streets and walkways all along the rock- and concrete-lined banks.  We encountered joggers and bicyclers on the walkways and light traffic on the streets.  The area at the base of the Tower area was teaming with people.  The line for the tower elevators was at least 100 meters long and moving slowly, so we just walked around looking with awe at the spectacular structure.  The Tower was built in 1889 to be the entrance gate for the 1889 World's Fair.  It is made of iron (18,038 pieces and 2.5 million rivets) and sits on a massive concrete pillars.  It's ironwork makes intricate designs -- a work of art as well as an engineering feat.  It has been used since its construction as a communication tower and draws millions of tourists yearly.  We marveled at its engineering and beauty.  We also marveled at the size of the milling crowd, who were eating, resting on the grass and benches, standing in line for the elevator ride to the observation platforms, selling souvenirs, and (so we were told) picking pockets.  We were approached by a young lady who asked us to sign a petition.  We refused and walked away because we had been told that this is one of the ways that the pick-pockets worked.  We snapped photographs from every angle in attempt to get the perfect picture.

It didn't take long for us to realize that we were very tired.  We had been up for about 30 hours at that point, so we strolled across a bridge and back looking at the scene along the river and then back to the boat for some much-needed rest. 

We had been told that the end ride for the Tour de France would be along the other side of the river at about 5:00 p.m.  We planned to cross the bridge and watch, but at about 4:00, we heard cheering and looked across the river to see the riders support vehicles going by.  We had missed the racers.  Dinner was served on the boat and consisted of several courses -- Judy had Sole and Dwight had Pork Tenderloin (both swimming in sauces) along with some vegetables and cheeses and of course an ice-cream dessert.  We met some of our fellow travelers at dinner and had a pleasant time visiting.  After dinner, we retired to our room (It was like a small hotel room).   After dark, I checked up on the top boat deck to see if the Eiffel Tower was lighted.  It was brightly lit with a circling beam coming from the top.  It was even more beautiful in the dark.