Paris in the Rain

We left our hotel after breakfast to visit the Opera House.  What a gorgeous building both inside and out.  Since we arrived a little late there was already quite a crowd but this didn't keep us from getting some great photos.

We met one of our group at the Obelisk and then proceeded to the Arch de Triomphe.  We had bought the Paris Museum pass which gave us admission into over 50 attractions like this.  We also got to go straight to the front of the line to begin our climb.   I'm not sure the number of stairs we climbed to reach the top, but I thought it was worth it for the view.  We met some nice people that were interested in photography and took each other's pictures with the city in the background.

After a quick self-service lunch, we headed to the Eifel Tower.  The clouds were starting to look pretty intense at this point, so we knew we needed to hurry.  We came upon the Olympic rings celebrating Paris hosting the Olympics in 2024.  The raindrops started to fall so we started looking for a cheap umbrella and a cab.  In the process we ran into the another member of our group that was under the tower.  She convinced us to stay so we took some great pictures from under the tower before catching a cab back to the hotel.

We had reservations at Georges on the top of the Pompedou Museum.  It was recommended to us for both the views and the food.  It's a large, modern space with windows over looking the city.  From our table we were able to watch the Eiffel Tower light up (and sparkle once an hour).  The food was very good with nice service.  After dinner, we walked a ways to catch a cab back to our hotel.  We were all exhausted from our day of touring.

Tomorrow: Final Day in Paris