Arriving from London at the Gare du Nord we raced across Paris to le Tour Eiffel. Unfortunately we misjudged the journey time from Gare du Nord where we stored our baggage over to "le Tour Eiffel". Furthermore, the tour we had booked in advance had no delay or reschedule built and even though we missed by only a 15-20 minute delay that meant no tour for us that day. The tour would allow us to skip the very long lines on a given day which given the popularity of the site and being Easter week were long indeed.
On this occasion we walked around the base where we were allowed in the surrounding park. The security is extremely high with all the recent terrorist issues in Paris and Europe in general.
It was pleasant enough and from there we wandered over the bridge crossing the river Seine to the Trocadero. At this location you get some great views of le Tour Eiffel.
We walked to the Trocadero and given our stinkard kids some munchies we looked around at all the pedlars selling cheap sunglasses and mini Eiffel tower memorabilia. Each and everyone of them all selling the exact same stuff.
From there we walked over to the Arc de Triomphe.
The Arc de Triomphe is located on the right bank of the Seine at the centre of a dodecagonal configuration of twelve radiating avenues. It was commissioned in 1806 after the victory at Austerlitz by Emperor Napoleon at the peak of his fortunes.
We wandered through the underpass to the central monument where we could view all sides and many different directions across the city of Paris.
Above I am mostly looking through the arch and the direction of the avenue des Champs-Elysees.
It was fascinating to look at the underside of the arch which was also beautifully decorated
The Arc de Triomphe honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
From there we walked down the The Avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Here we were in need of some refreshments and found a fun coffee store and cafe called Kozy cafe.
After which we claimed our bags from Gare du Nord lockers and headed to our appartment in the St. Germain des pres arrondissement.