jess and the gang: Eiffel Tower

We just finished up a four day stint in Paris and, well, so much happened on the eiffel tower that I thought I would start with there. Paris will definitely see some action at some point because I am just a little trigger happy and have WAY TOO MANY pictures. But on to the eiffel tower...and a fraction of the too many pictures I took there.

I originally hawked the idea of adding Paris to our trip because Connor has been obsessed with the eiffel tower for well over a year now. It all started with a little statue of the tower in our house that I got when I went to Paris with my family when I was 19. Both kids have been so excited about the eiffel tower. Then, a week before the trip, Connor declared that he didn't want to go up in the tower. Uh, WHAT?!? After talking to him, I realized his real fear was of people stopping the elevator (you know, pressing the elevator stop button). After telling him there was an elevator operator, all was fine again.

A couple days before our trip, I was looking at tickets to the tower online and realized you can buy them online and bypass the long lines. Score! I went to buy tickets and every day we were in Paris was sold out. I was gutted to say the least. Then, my 'ole friend google helped me discover that apparently you can only pre buy tickets online at least 3 months in advance...as if I plan anything that far in advance!

Knowing the line to buy tickets, then get up the tower, were going to be long, we were armed with entertainment with the kids. Connor was so excited, he didn't need entertainment. And, the line went rather quick anyway. When we got on the elevator and Connor saw the elevator operator, he said, "You were telling the truth about the elevator man!" Glad to see you have so much faith in your mom, kid!

We finally made it to the top (you have to wait in another long line on the second floor to get up to the top). We headed outside to check out the views and enjoy some fresh air after being sardined in an elevator. Connor got insanely hyper and wanted nothing to do with being up there. And, it got worse when we decided to take a family picture up there. He was hysterical, so Ian finally put him down. And, about 20 people were standing around trying to convince Connor to at least stand in front of us for a picture. It was nice that so many people wanted to help, but also super embarrassing that we were a spectacle for so many. Even going inside to the enclosed area didn't help Connor. I told Ian it wasn't worth it and for us to just go down.

We went back down to the second floor to change elevators to head down to the bottom. While waiting in line for that elevator, some Asian ladies took great interest in Isla. In broken English, they asked to take a picture with her. I said yes. I totally thought Isla would flip when one of them picked her up. But, no. Girlfriend was enjoying all these ladies doting on her. It was actually quite funny.

On the way down, we stopped off at the first floor. And, that was the perfect stop for us. In fact, I think it redeemed our trip to the eiffel tower for me. The first floor is literally at least six times the size as the top and practically no one stops there. It made the perfect place to stop with kids. They could run around and be themselves. We didn't have to worry about them hitting other people or loosing them in the crowd. We still had rather good views. And, there are some crazy glass floors that you can stand on. I will be honest and admit that I was slightly freaked out standing on the glass, but it was really cool.