Our tour in Notre Dame also included the Towers, but not the guide in the Towers. So our guy gave us the tickets, and basically said we can go on any day as long as it's during opening hours. Hah!
On the day of the tour, the line to the Towers was really long and actually wasn't accepting anymore people. So we decided to go on our fifth, second-to-last day in Paris.
This was our "relaxing" day because we didn't have any tours.
The day started out pretty bad for us. We woke up late, went to a cafe that had really terrible service and food, and got cheated in a pedicab - the guy said 5 euros for 2 people, but it was actually 10 euros to start or something, and 15 euros per person. It was ridiculous, and felt pretty awful to be lied to like that.
Anyway, we only had to wait about 30 minutes to get inside. During our wait, Mike went across the street, and got a hot dog in a baguette and nutella crepe. It was the best nutella crepe I had in Paris, and Mike really liked the hot dog.
It's 400+ steps to reach the top of the towers, which had a beautiful view, as you probably guessed!
We had to wait in line to get to the tippity top, but I didn't know we could go to the top, and that we had to wait behind the line divider. I just thought it was getting really crowded, so I hopped over the line divider to avoid people. The security lady was like no, you cannot do that, but go ahead to the top. I was so confused. Mike explained it to me on our way up the tower, and I felt a bit bad.
When we left the tower, we sat in front of the cathedral and admired it again. Then we went to the park behind the cathedral and took a nap. It was a glorious nap.
Then we walked down the street that inspired Sweeney Todd, which is based on a true story that happened on that street.
On that street used to be a barber who offered university students in the area 1/2 price haircuts, and a slit in the throat. The barber would hide the bodies in his basement, and the butcher next door would put the meat in his pies, and his pies became a delicacy all over Paris and France. One day, a German student went there and never came back, and people became curious and discovered the barber's secret. The barber's shop was destroyed and now there is stump where the police station is today. Our tour guide said that the police would pretend that they don't know if we ask about the stump.
Afterwards, we walked back to the area near the Eiffel Tower, where we were at last night. We had Chinese food for lunch, can you believe it! American Chinese food definitely tasted better if we're judging all of Paris' Chinese food by this one joint.
We walked around that area some more and bought an eclair. It was okay... the inside was chocolate, and we were expecting vanilla cream, like a Boston cream donut. We stopped by a shop that sold macaroons, but they were a bit expensive (2 euros for one).
Then we went to a supermarket to get some snacks for our picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. We got a baguette, a small wheel of cheese, chips, and cured meat.
It was surprisingly hot when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. We lounged on the grass for a few hours and ate our snacks. Oh, Paris.
Around 6pm, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to go up the tower. The line wasn't long at all compared to last night! After waiting in line for about 30 minutes and then buying our tickets. we got on the elevator up to the tower.
The view was really nice, and super pretty with the sunset.
We walked up and down the first and second floors, and around the tower. There were gift shops and cafes. I couldn't decide on what to buy, and ended up leaving empty handed.
When it finally became too cold, we took the elevator down. At the exit, some guy offered Mike 6 Eiffel Tower keychains for 1 euro! He bought 12 keychains, and I took 3 for my team at work.
For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant. We were going to go to a local favorite near our hostel, but it was more like a pub than place to eat. Then we realized that we were in Chinatown, and we said fuck it, let's get Chinese food.
The dishes are super small, like half of what you get in America. We got ma po tofu (had the ma but not the la), "kin do" meat (but it's not the same as what you get in America, it's more like spare ribs with char siu seasoning/sauce...), and char siu (on point!). When Mike went to the bathroom, he saw people eating char siu that was sliced as thin as cured meat. He said it was weird and was skeptical when we ordered it. But ours was cut in chunks, like what we're used to! So funny.
After that, we retired for the night. Good day! And I couldn't wait to see the Louvre the next day!
On the day of the tour, the line to the Towers was really long and actually wasn't accepting anymore people. So we decided to go on our fifth, second-to-last day in Paris.
This was our "relaxing" day because we didn't have any tours.
The day started out pretty bad for us. We woke up late, went to a cafe that had really terrible service and food, and got cheated in a pedicab - the guy said 5 euros for 2 people, but it was actually 10 euros to start or something, and 15 euros per person. It was ridiculous, and felt pretty awful to be lied to like that.
Anyway, we only had to wait about 30 minutes to get inside. During our wait, Mike went across the street, and got a hot dog in a baguette and nutella crepe. It was the best nutella crepe I had in Paris, and Mike really liked the hot dog.
It's 400+ steps to reach the top of the towers, which had a beautiful view, as you probably guessed!
We had to wait in line to get to the tippity top, but I didn't know we could go to the top, and that we had to wait behind the line divider. I just thought it was getting really crowded, so I hopped over the line divider to avoid people. The security lady was like no, you cannot do that, but go ahead to the top. I was so confused. Mike explained it to me on our way up the tower, and I felt a bit bad.
When we left the tower, we sat in front of the cathedral and admired it again. Then we went to the park behind the cathedral and took a nap. It was a glorious nap.
Then we walked down the street that inspired Sweeney Todd, which is based on a true story that happened on that street.
On that street used to be a barber who offered university students in the area 1/2 price haircuts, and a slit in the throat. The barber would hide the bodies in his basement, and the butcher next door would put the meat in his pies, and his pies became a delicacy all over Paris and France. One day, a German student went there and never came back, and people became curious and discovered the barber's secret. The barber's shop was destroyed and now there is stump where the police station is today. Our tour guide said that the police would pretend that they don't know if we ask about the stump.
Afterwards, we walked back to the area near the Eiffel Tower, where we were at last night. We had Chinese food for lunch, can you believe it! American Chinese food definitely tasted better if we're judging all of Paris' Chinese food by this one joint.
We walked around that area some more and bought an eclair. It was okay... the inside was chocolate, and we were expecting vanilla cream, like a Boston cream donut. We stopped by a shop that sold macaroons, but they were a bit expensive (2 euros for one).
Then we went to a supermarket to get some snacks for our picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. We got a baguette, a small wheel of cheese, chips, and cured meat.
It was surprisingly hot when we arrived at the Eiffel Tower. We lounged on the grass for a few hours and ate our snacks. Oh, Paris.
Around 6pm, we walked to the Eiffel Tower and got in line to go up the tower. The line wasn't long at all compared to last night! After waiting in line for about 30 minutes and then buying our tickets. we got on the elevator up to the tower.
The view was really nice, and super pretty with the sunset.
We walked up and down the first and second floors, and around the tower. There were gift shops and cafes. I couldn't decide on what to buy, and ended up leaving empty handed.
When it finally became too cold, we took the elevator down. At the exit, some guy offered Mike 6 Eiffel Tower keychains for 1 euro! He bought 12 keychains, and I took 3 for my team at work.
For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant. We were going to go to a local favorite near our hostel, but it was more like a pub than place to eat. Then we realized that we were in Chinatown, and we said fuck it, let's get Chinese food.
The dishes are super small, like half of what you get in America. We got ma po tofu (had the ma but not the la), "kin do" meat (but it's not the same as what you get in America, it's more like spare ribs with char siu seasoning/sauce...), and char siu (on point!). When Mike went to the bathroom, he saw people eating char siu that was sliced as thin as cured meat. He said it was weird and was skeptical when we ordered it. But ours was cut in chunks, like what we're used to! So funny.
After that, we retired for the night. Good day! And I couldn't wait to see the Louvre the next day!