Toure De Paris - Day 6

Eiffel tower:
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Finally weekend arrived and it was time to venture out for some sight seeing. It was a perfect day with slightly warm weather and cool breeze. Planned my trip such that I could see most places today. My first stop was the "Eiffel Tower". Boarded the metro at "Les Sablons" and changed lines at Charles De Gaule and got down at Trocadero. As I got out of the metro station, the magnificient "Tour Eiffel" looked down majestically at the passers by. It was indeed a structure of elegance and pride. I was told that the beauty of this tower enhances itself nearly 100 times at night. I was looking forward to it.Snapped a lot of pictures with my digicam as I walked towards the tower. I stumbled a few times as I was walking towards it since I just could not look down with the tower in fron of me. I wanted to capture every possible beauty of the tower with my eyes. So did not want to waste a moment looking down at the road. No wonder it is one of the seven wonders of the world. I slowly strolled towards it absorbing its beauty and decided to climb up the tower to get a view of Paris from up above. There were 3 observation decks at varying heights. You can climb using stairs to the second one but will have to take the escalator to get to the topmost deck. I went only upto the second one. While I was there, a couple had come with friends and relatives to get married at the Eiffel tower. I thought that was so romantic. The view from up above was fantastic. The weather was just perfect and visibility was excellent. Got to see all the important landmarks of Paris from there. One actually gets a 360 degrees view of paris from this observation deck. A view not to be missed. In order to visit places in Paris, I decided to take the "Batobus". This is a river ferry that stops at major attractions where one can get off and on through out the day. The last trip was at 9PM. So I hopped on one of the ferry for my next attraction.
Notre Dame:
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My next stop was "Notre Dame". This is the infamous cathedral by the banks of the river Siene. Architecturally neautiful place. Needs an eye of an artist to appreciate this. I did not have one. But I did take a tour of the cathedral. Spent some time outside the cathedrals where some high school kids were showing their prowess with roller blades. It was astonishing to watch them defer gravity and balance. Had a veggie sandwich for lunch.
The Lourve:
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I boarded the Batobus for my next stop which would be the "Musee de Lourve". This is the museum that holds paintings and articrafts from famuos artists. Noted one is the "Mona Lisa" painiting from Leonardo Da Vinci. This is a huge museum and there is no way one can visit everything. I was very particular about visiting the Mona Lisa and the Egyptian mummies. The entrace fee to the museum is 8 euros. As I entered the museum, it started raining. It was a downpour. Even with the floor plan in hand, it took me a while to locate the Mona Lisa painting. There was a huge crowd in front of it, trying to snap pictures. This is supposed to be the most photographed painting in the world. I was surprised to find that they allow all kinds of cameras inside the museum at no cost. It was a small picture locked away behind a glass door. I am not sure what in the picture captivates people and why people wanted to capture that picture. Maybe an artist would be able to explain it. I also got a chance to look at other massive paintings by famous artisits. Unfortunately all the desriptions were in french and so could not follow it. In the Lourve, they had something called an Audio tour. Instead of a tour guide they give you a CD player and headphones that you can wear and walk around with it. It explains in detail about the paintings and sculptures in a language of choice. Neither did I have the patience nor the time for it. So I did not go for it.Once I was done with the Mona Lisa, I looked for the Egyptian antiquities section where they had the tombs and mummies. It took me nearly 20 mins to just loctae that section and then another 20 mins to locate the exhibits that I was interested in. It was worth the search. They were really good. Real antique pieces. They bring you the day to day tools and things that the egyptians used for their livelihood. Then I visited the medieval era. They had recreated some pyramids and tomb structures. It was ok. I completely lost my way and could not get back to where I started. I was really tired by now as it was 6PM in the evening and I have been walking since morning. Finally after 20 mins I was able to trace my way back to the starting point. Now I was ready to go back to my hotel.
Paris by night:
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So I took the metro back to the hotel and got some grocery on my way back home. Had some noodles and fruits for dinner and was ready for the night view of Paris by the ferry. I got to "Tour Eiffel" by metro and the lightings of the Eiffel tower was just magnificent. Words cannot express it. One has to see it to appreciate it. Every hour on the hour, additional twinkling lights come on and twinkle for about 5 mins. The sight of it is mesmerising. I then took a ferry tour on the "Batobus" and the lights on the monuments and buildings bordering the river was just amazing. I saw huge ferries that server dinner and wine while cruising up and down this river. It was just a breathtaking view from the river.
It was just too much to handle in a day. Wish I had a couple more days to enjoy each one of these monuments more leisurely. But I cannot complain. This was good too. I just wish I had enjoyed it with my wife which would have made this all the more exciting and memorable. Next time I do this, I am not doing it alone. That much I know.