L'Amerloque: Paris Lights

The weekend following the Bayeux / D-Day Beaches visit was my last weekend in France before heading back to the States for Christmas / New Year's break. In the weeks preceding, I was really excited to go home (and especially excited to eat a Chick-Fil-A sandwich; it's the little things, you know?), but I was equally anticipating my planned weekend in Paris with Marjo.

I arrived on Saturday afternoon, and we spent most of the day Christmas shopping and such. The Christmas lights in Paris were beautiful.

Later, we got dressed up and went out dancing with a few friends of hers. The bar that we went to was PACKED, and we waited about an hour to get a drink in a terribly dirty glass (we all watched the bartender take and rinse the glasses in a sink full of water, then use them again. Ick.); but besides this, we had a really awesome time.

I'd gotten wind (thanks to Rebekka) that the Eiffel Tower had installed an ice rink on its first floor, and had reserved tickets a week or so in advance, like the good tourist that I am. Marjo laughed when I told her I wanted to go - "You're gonna make me a tourist in my own city!" - but I think we would both agree that it was WELL worth it.

Now, don't get your hopes up for next Christmas: the ice rink was for children, if that. It was tiny, and since you'd be hard-pressed to get a Zamboni on the Eiffel Tower, the ice was far too worn down to be skateable. But I had chosen the timing perfectly, so that we had a 4:30 reservation on the Tower. By the time we got up, the sun was setting, and from each floor successively until the top, we enjoyed the most wonderful sunset on a clear, COLD evening.

If you're going to the Eiffel Tower, online reservations are the way to go: on this particular day, the very top was closed for all except those holding a reserved ticket to the summit. It was seriously freezing that day, so we were both dressed very warmly. I have learned to tie a scarf like a true Normande, so it didn't bother me much. :)

The higher up we went, the windier it got. By the time we reached the summit, night had fallen, and the light that shines out from the tower was making beautiful spotlight circles around Paris.

We were on the Tower when it started sparkling (the first five minutes of every hour), so we missed the spectacle. But we did get to see the beautiful structure glowing and lit up after we came down. Which of course necessitated yet another photo op...