Day 4 - Paris, all the pretty things

The second half of day 4 was exhausting. Completely, utterly, exhausting. But also, the best time we could imagine! As we left Montmartre, and it’s throngs of artists, tourist, windy streets and cafes, we stopped to eat our first macaroons, then we navigated the metro system yet again - but this time, Elijah led! He played the role of tour guide and brought us all to the Louvre.

Inside the Louvre, we split into small groups to explore. The Louvre is so massive that it is hard to wrap your mind around. It is an experience unlike any other.

After the Louvre & lunch, we descended to the Metro again as a small group and traveled to the Eiffel Tower. We had several laughs at security, and then we began queuing in an hour-long line to ascend the Eiffel Tower vía elevator (and that was WITH prepurchased tickets). But wow! It was worth it! The views at the top are pretty spectacular. Students got some of their best photos here today. We stopped at the 2nd floor (which is mandatory) and we took a brief orientation tour. Then on to the summit for us! We ascended the next 2/3 of the Tower to the very top and enjoyed unparalleled views for another hour before traveling back to the bottom to regroup for dinner.
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Because our self-led excursion lasted so long, we had missed dinner by nearly two hours. So we did what the French & Spanish often do - we are late! We walked quite a ways to a cafe called Le Dome that offers views of the Tower as well where we all ordered our own meals. At my small table of four alone - we tried pesto pasta, duck confit, pizza, and creme brûlée s and mousse. At the end of our long but rewarding day, we used the metro one last time to return to our hotel and sleep.