Here we are: jour número deux! Slept in like a baby this morning! In fact, Ryan was already awake and patiently waited an hour for me to open my sleepy eyes…total role reversal! We decided not to cram in Versailles today but enjoy the city as much as we could for our last day. Instead, we headed to a closer landmark, Sacre Coeur, in the Montmartre area. I had read about pick-pocketing and really pushy vendors at popular tourist attractions but hadn’t seen any until this morning when Ryan was almost a “friendship bracelet” scam victim. I had charged through them but then didn’t hear Ryan behind me. I looked back and saw that he was stopped by one of the vendors who held his hand while Ryan was trying to escape. Something came over me and I gave the seedy man a serious death glare and sternly said Excusez-moi! Non! S’il vous plait!!”, grabbed the same hand he was holding onto and yanked us out of that area. My heart raced as we scurried up the stairs toward the church. I just wanted to get far from them! At the top of the stairs, we saw a panoramic view of Paris city center. On our way down, we took the side route to avoid other pushy vendors. The juxtaposition of sleazy loitering in such a sacred place made me sad and mad at the same time.
The next activity was to head over to the Arc de Triomphe and walk down the extensive Champs-Élysées. Midway through our stroll, we stopped for some scrumptious macarons! We also decided to buy a gorgeous Renault. Can you believe it’s 100% electric?! C’est magnifique!
Okay, now I explain the meaning behind the title of this post. We decided to walk up to the 2nd floor of the Eiffel Tower instead of waiting in line ~1 hr for the elevator. People at my work know this but for those that don’t, I have been training for this daunting task…and I think it worked!! We walked up 43 floors (668 steps) and took the elevator to the top and watched the sunset. An amazing and romantic way to end our Paris trip!!
