Eiffel Tower and Aquarium

Paris

Day 196

The first time we saw the Eiffel Tower, the girls were young. Cali was a new born, Madi was a toddler. I remember standing under that base and staring up at the grandeur of it, so much larger than any of us could have imagined. We were mesmerized until a wind gust wrapped the girls’ hair around their ice cream cones and they spent the next ten minutes licking it out of their hair. A mixed moment I’ll never forget. Now when we go to the Eiffel Tower the girls tinker with camera settings, keep the Nutella from the crepes out of their hair, but are no less in awe of this magnificent structure.

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In Paris it’s always easy to find a good crepe, but getting one with a view like this is more rare.

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Aquariums. One of the few things the girls agree on with unanimous enthusiasm. That’s why whatever city we visit, we always seem to end up at the aquarium, sooner or later.

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I’m not going to sugar-coat this. Of all the aquariums we’ve been to, it’s safe to say Paris comes in dead last. It was the shabbiest, most run down place that we’ve ever seen. There were two tanks of jellyfish where many of them were dead. There was a koi petting pool, the first that I’ve ever seen and I hope the last. There was no staff to keep the kids from roughly grabbing and poking at the fish, and the parents allowed it. We had to walk away, it just wasn’t cool. That didn’t keep us from enjoying the cafe at the end, in front of the tank of sharks. We pride ourselves in maxing out any situation we’re given. Bright side, they have one of the most elaborate coffee making machines I’ve ever seen. Points for that.

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When you exit the aquarium, the Eiffel Tower is in full view through the trees. We waited for the top of the hour twinkling to start, took a few pictures, and caught the metro home.

And now, some tower pics.

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