Notré Dame and the Eiffel Tower

Our third day was probably the most "touristy" and admittedly my favourite day! We started our day pretty early since we figured we had a lot to do in one day. We took the metro to the island in Paris and I was really impressed that they had a metro station under the river! Notre Dame is on the island, which is pretty small but so incredible. It was a short walk from the metro to the front of the church, but a pretty long line. Atleast the view made up for the wait! Inside the church was amazing - beautiful stained glass, high ceilings and a massive alter. We went in and mass was in progress (although it was really loud), but there is so much to look at around the church. It really was beautiful, but we couldn't wait to get on the top and see the views of Paris!

We left the church and you can sign up for a time to go up the tower. We didn't realize you had to sign up and not just wait in line, so the time left on the machine was between 5-6 that day. We decided to download the app (technology is great) and go up the tower the next day and reserve a spot in the morning before we left. For anyone reading this that is considering doing this if they end up in Paris, the app is called "In the Line" and the icon is a hand with a red background - it makes planning your day so much easier knowing that you can come at a specific time.

After Notre Dame we went back to the apartment to get my sister (she had already been and didn't want to go again), grabbed some lunch (seriously, the patios and outdoor cafes are all over) and made our way to the Eiffel Tower. We got off the metro a little early so we could see the tower from a distance, take pictures and walk across the bridge. In front of the tower is a lot of street food and "fair" like activities, shops and souvenir stores. There's also two merry go rounds, which cost too much to consider riding. To get into the tower you have to go through a security check, then head to any of the elevator lift lines. There are 4 - north, south, east and west. All the lines were pretty long and took about 45 minutes each to buy your ticket. We could have bought them in advance, but hey, nothing wrong with some quality family time. The elevator itself goes pretty fast, and takes you to the first floor. It goes diagonally up the leg of the tower, which felt pretty weird. On the first floor you can look around and the views were pretty incredible. Thankfully the line to get back in the elevator was another 45 minutes, and wrapped around the tower (I think there's only 1 elevator up) so we had a good view for a while. The elevator to the top floor took a lot longer and went straight up, and admittedly I am terrified of heights so I didn't actually look out on the ride up. Once we were on the floor I was better and loved the views! It was even more incredible from higher up, although it was more fenced in and a lot smaller. I think some people don't buy the ticket that takes you to the top, but it was worth it (not that I paid anyway). We took the elevator down to the 1st floor, which actually turned out to be the second floor, and walked down to the actual first floor. We read and saw advertisements for a glass floor, which wasn't impressive. It was small, and the glass wasn't clean at all. It was more translucent and didn't really allow you to see much. Oh well! We took the elevator down to the bottom, took some more pictures from afar and headed back to the apartment!Read more