Paris, Day 2

Our first full day in Paris, we decided to just ride the tour bus through the big loop and see all the main monuments from the bus. 

We got ready (which takes a while for 7 people) and headed out that morning.  It was cold and cloudy!!  We hopped on the tour bus, and off we went!

Ready to explore!!

Loaded up on the bus and ready to see the sights!

It was cold that morning...MiMi ditched trying to look good, and opted for trying to keep warm!  That's her with the yellow hood cinched around her head!!

Traffic in Paris is a bit CRAZY!!  I had to try hard not to focus on the cars/mopeds/bicycles we almost hit!!

A quick hop-off of the bus to get on another route!  Still cold!  While I look like I am in severe need of a bathroom break, R caught me "mid-hop" as I was trying to keep warm!  And yes, MiMi STILL has on the yellow hood! : )

MiMi & PaPa as we arrived at the Eiffel Tower.

Arriving at the Eiffel Tower...

We decided at this point that we would hop off the bus and go up to the Eiffel Tower.  We had some quick discussion about who was actually brave enough to go to the top...

And this is the crew that chose the adventure!!  MiMi and I decided to stay safely on the ground!

PaPa enjoyed it!

The view was amazing!!

And this picture says it all!! A was SO excited to go up!!  PaPa & Little R were excited!  T was terrified!  I can't believe she actually did it!  She has my fear of heights and dislike of crowded, closed in spaces...and this had both!  But she said she thought she would regret it if she didn't....so up she went!  I'm not sure she actually enjoyed, but she can now say she has been to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

After they came down from the tower, we decided to hop back on the bus and head back to the apartment, calling it an end to our day.  Little did we know our adventure was just beginning!!

We went to the bus stop and waited for the next bus.  More and more people started showing up, waiting for the bus.  We waited for probably 30 minutes...and it started raining...and more people showed up, hoping to get on the bus.  When the bus pulled up, there was a mad scramble of running, pushing people forcing themselves in the doors of the bus!  Even though we were the first ones there waiting for the bus, we were the last ones to get on!  The bus was completely full, people standing on top of each other in the aisles.  So what was our only choice???

The completely empty open top of the bus!!!

We had to go to the top of the bus!!  It was pouring rain, the seats had puddles of water on them, and the floor had about 4 inches of standing water!!  But we sat down, put our umbrellas up, and made the best of it!!  R and the girls were waving at everyone on the streets, singing and dancing around!!  Little R had a major meltdown about being wet...but then even he got over it and settled in for the ride.  By the time we made it to our apartment, we were all soaking wet and cold!  It was miserable at the time, but now that all is said and done, it is probably one of our favorite memories of the trip!  Day 2 DONE...thankfully dry and warm in the apartment!!