Paris Day 1

Paris greeted us with London weather, rain and high 50 degree temps. After arriving into Paris on the EuroStar (by the chunnel) we boarded our bus for a sightseeing tour of Paris by bus. We were able to get off the bus in a few spots for pictures of city highlights along the way. Before our group entrance at the Eiffle Tower we stopped for lunch in one of Paris's busiest districts and gained our first experience of food in Paris.

After lunch we moved on to the Eiffle Tower for our visit to the cities tallest structure. On the way there our tour guide told us some interesting facts about the tower, one being that the tower was not initially built to last forever. This is not the thing you want to hear as you're getting ready to ascend towards the top of a 1,000 foot tower, also equivalent to an 81-story building. The tower was built by a bridge maker, not a building maker. The tower was built using iron which rusts therefore the city must constantly maintain the tower always making sure the brown paint stays fresh in order to keep rust away.

Luckily since we were entering as a group and the weather was not the most desirable we did not wait in any lines for our elevator trip up to the 2nd viewing deck. We did not plan on rising to the top (3rd deck) which worked out well since it was in the clouds at the time. The views from the deck were amazing, even on a rainy afternoon. All the major sights are viewable from the tower so this was a great way to welcome us to the city.

After leaving the tower we had more relaxing sightseeing by bus in route to our hotel for check-in. We arrived at our hotel, rested some before dinner and then the group met in the lobby for dinner at one of the hotels 3 restaurants. To conclude the evening we walked the local streets in search of ATMs, shops and of course those famous French pastries.