Day 21

We were so tired we slept on the bus, so no photos on the way.  When we arrived in Paris the bus took us to the Eiffel Tower.  We passed the 'Statue of Liberty' and a heart-shaped shrimp sculpture on the way.  Although I've seen many pictures of the Eiffel Tower, to see it in person was amazing.  It seemed so much bigger.  We had a bit of free time to look around, before going on our lunch cruise along the Seine River, so we walked all the way around the Tower.  We didn't get to go up it, as we didn't have time, but I took heaps of photos of it.

Just before our one hour boat ride we were given a packed lunch to eat on board.  We had a chicken baguette with a cookie and juice, which was pretty good.  

We had a guide on the cruise, talking the whole time but, although he was actually speaking English, his French accent was so strong, we couldn't understand a word he said.  Fortunately, Sotiri had been to Paris before and pointed out the Louvre, Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay and the Flame of Liberty.  There were statues everywhere.  

After the cruise we were taken to a Perfume Museum.  Apparently, to become a professional perfume sniffer, you have to study for many years and only a few have the right nose for it.  After the museum we walked back to the bus, passing the Theatre-Edouard VII and La Madeleine Catholic Church.  Once back on the bus, Sam drove us to the hotel, driving three times around the Arc de Triomphe, so we could take photos.  There are 12 roads leading to the Arc de Triomphe and there are no signals as to who goes when.  Apparently, it's whoever gets there first.  We also passed a Louis Vuitton building, which looks like a large suitcase, but in fact it is just a facade to hide the ongoing construction of the hotel behind it.

Once at the hotel, those who were doing an optional excursion only had time to drop off their bags, then leave again.  We chose not to do anything, as we were tired. We ordered McDonalds, through Uber eats, because we were told Paris had the best McDonalds.  It was a lie ☹️

After dinner we looked out our Hotel window to see if we could see the Eiffel Tower all lit up.  We could only just see it, so decided to go outside for a better look.   We walked above the train station and managed to get a good photo of it, all lit up.  The Eiffel Tower was quite a long way from where we were, so I had to zoom in to get the photo.  It sparkled for about 5 minutes every hour.  Paris is quite pretty at night with all the lights.