This morning got off to a slow start, thanks to not getting back to the apartment and climbing into bed until about 2am. And still being wet from the rain. So we shuffled our timeline a little today to make everything work, and slept later than usual. I was up at 8:30 and Chloe was up at 11:30 (by force), with the others in between.

Our first agenda item was the French Army Museum. A short walk from our place, just the otherside of Champ de Mars. On the way, we stopped for a late breakfast/early lunch to keep us from snacking all afternoon. We stopped at Les Parisiennes, and we were pretty impressed. Vegetarian options, outstanding eggs benedict, and brioche french toast, plus solid service (likely because the cafe isn’t in a very touristy spot).

Despite my US Army veteran dad’s jokes about how it would be full of brand new weapons, never fired, and only dropped once (a hysterical tribute to the French’s ability to make themselves scarce in any modern combat theater), The Army Museum was quite impessive. Housed in Hotel National des Invalides, constructed by Louis XIV in the 17th century as a home of retired, injured, and sick veterans, it contains a number of exhibits. A very philanthropic decision considering that just a generation or three later, his descendant made decisions which were sufficient to kick off a revolution.

We toured everything from midievel armor and weaponry all the way up through the second World War and how it impacted France. I was never aware of the political strife and depression that existed in this country after World War I and the repercussions a second World War had. The exhibits appeared to be informative, but almost everything was written only in French so that was challenging, and very comprehensive. Those of the newer wars were quite extensive and well documented.

One of the most impressive exhibits is the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte. A massive marble sculpture housed in a sublevel but open to above was a somber and respectful tribute to one of the world’s most brilliant military minds. While there are many arguments to be made about Napoleon and his sanity, intellect compared to his generals, and even his height (some say 5’2″ while others say 5’7″), his accomplishments are without question.

However, the best part of the visit was that despite falling into an exhibit in the World War I section of the museum, I did not break anything or get arrested. Apparently where there appeared to be an aisle between exhibit structures, there wasn’t, and I tripped over an elevated floor, only managing to catch myself with one hand squarely on the top flat surface of what fortunately turned out to be really think and strong glass. By the time the crack security officer arrived to investigate I had myself upright and calmly looking at some uniform on display. The kids saw the whole thing and are still laughing about it.

From the museum we headed to the Pantheon. From the outside it looks impressive, but the inside is much bigger than seems possible based on external dimensions. It was that outside view which is what likely caused Susie to clean out a bicyclist. I didn’t see that actual event but apparently the wheels became tangled. Everyone seemed to be okay, except those of us who pulled muscles laughing about it… Completed in the mid-18th century in Paris’s Latin Quarter, the Pantheon has a large cathedral and serves as a crypt to a number of notable of French citizens. We saw the tombs of Victor Hugo (Les Miserables), Voltaire (freshman Philosophy staple), and Louis Braile (if you haven’t heard of him it’s likely because you’re reading this with your eyes), among others. The cathedral is beautiful and rivals some of the others we’ve seen on this trip.

The most interesting feature was the Foucault Pendulum. I won’t bore you all with a Sheldon Cooper style explanation, but let’s just leave it at the pendulum was an experiment – sponsored by Napoleon – to show that the earth turned it on its axis rather than simply rotated around the sun. For an explanation, please click the link.

As it had been part of the original plan, we made a quick walk over to Notre Dame. What a breathtaking building. You cant get close anymore, but we will be making a trip back in a couple hundred years when its restored.

Our final planned event for the night was a stop at the Eiffel Tower for 10:30pm. Before heading back to the tower, we grabbed dinner at Pizza Vesuvio on Rue Gozlin. We wanted something simple at someplace which could accomodate 9 people with a schedule to keep. That is a Paris restaurant’s worst nightmare, but the group here pulled it off. The server was cordial and spoke better english than our French (not hard), and thought it was funny we were from Las Vegas as his parents were married there. My meal was great, everyone enjoyed everything and we were out just in time for taxis, complete with driver in desperate need of a shower and Right Guard, to the Tower.

First off, accessing the Eiffel Tower is not easy. I’ve been to Paris before, seen it from a distance, but never been inside. You really have to earn it. Buy your tickets in advance. Clear the first security checkpoint. Get in line. Have your ticket checked. Clear security point number two. Dodge vomit in walkway due to karma being very real. Board elevator to the first level of the tower. From start to finish, that took roughly 45 minutes. We had a clear night, and the views from the lower section were quite pretty. Then, back in line. Board new, but small elevator with your now-closest-10-friends. And ride it up up up. When you reach the top, you’ll notice that you’re encase in steel and plexiglass, and that it is very stuffy. Quickly find the stairs up and find fresh air and outstanding views – tonight even caught a full Blood moon. Very cool.

We were some of the last people out of the tower and my family opted to hike down the stairs from the mid level to the ground. It was a lot of stairs, 674 to be exact, and out knees and legs felt like Jello after having already walked about 8 miles and stood for the better part of 10 hours. But it was much faster than waiting for the elevator.

Tomorrow we have a much more low key day, a daytime Eiffel Tower trip repeating the above steps, and a hike to the top of the Arc de Troimphe. Followed by a walk down the Champs Elysees where I’ll be too cheap and poor after this trip to buy anything. Likely a slightly later start tomorrow as well, since it is already almost 2am here in Paris. I’d like to say this is all part of my plan to adjust better to the Pacific Time zone, but that would be a lie.

Quick Public Service Announcement: be careful with airbnb. We use them all the time, and we even own one. But we are in a situation with our Paris airbnb, where it may not be completely legally and has been withdrawn from the site and the owner asking for payment outside of airbnb. We know the process of getting listed and approved pretty well, so we would just advise everyone to check into the validity of the rentals before you book. If you have any questions, please let us know and we are happy to help you understand in more detail.