Final Hours in Paris: A Towering Achievement!

Finally! I'm at our final hours in Paris. We've done most of the things that first-time tourists in Paris are supposed to do (except the Louvre and Versailles, but we'll just look at everyone else's pictures or the official virtual tours online). But the Eiffel Tower looms in our immediate future, and no matter the weather, we must face the inevitable.

AND...this evening was our first encounter with really bad weather. When we checked in for our tour to the summit, it was not too bad, just really muggy and occasionally sprinkling. But both Cindy's and my weather apps (which have quite divergent ideas of what's coming in weather) warned of impending thunderstorms. And here is how it looked at the start of this adventure:

We had a two-phase Tower experience planned: first, the trip to the summit to see the city laid out at our feet, and dinner at 6:30 at Madame Brasserie--which, by the way, does not adhere to the definition of brasserie (an "unpretentious restaurant ... that serves drinks ... and simple or hearty food") on the first floor of the Tower. We had no idea that the simple act of getting from the elevator to the second floor to the elevator to the summit would be such a time consuming slog, so we finally broke away from that and walked down to the first floor in order to be on time for dinner, which was a prix fixe affair with a couple of choices for each course. As noted above, this restaurant is not unpretentious, but it sure was fun to feel that we were, for a moment, dining above the rabble. Actually, we were just part of the tourist rabble of the moment, but still...fun. Sadly, I neglected to take a photo of the menu, and that evening is so buried beneath the drift of subsequent meals that it would require a hypnotist to perform an archeological dig into my memories to unearth that dinner. We have one photographic record of the meal, however:

Cindy picked the bones clean!

After dessert, we started the climb back up the stairs to the second floor where we could still use our summit tickets to get to the top. By this time, the storms were moving through, with rain, wind, and the occasional lightning and thunder. Exciting! The line for the summit elevator was much shorter than it had been two hours earlier. There was a delay while (perhaps; just guessing here) the operators of the entire Tower people movement system determined if it was safe to continue. It was. So finally, off we went skyward to the long-awaited Eiffel Tower summit experience. And how happy we were to have waited, because the skies put on quite a show for us.

Waiting on the second floor for the elevator--fortunately, protected from the rain.

Above: From the summit (inside)

Above: A short while later, from the top (outside)

And, of course, we managed to get a snippet of footage when they flashed the lights at 10pm.

Our time with the Eiffel Tower and Paris was drawing to a close. We had all the drama we needed for this great city: Covid, thunderstorms, grand buildings, superb art, and special moments. What more could we ask? In the morning we would leave for Sarlat-Le-Caneda , but we leave you with one last image of the Tower:

And so, au revoir to Paris, and on to the smaller places that awaited our arrival.

Next up: The Dordogne Valley!