we got all packed up in the morning, hailed a cab to the airport and were about to get in line to check in for our flight when roger realized that he left his man bag in the cab, complete with his wallet, id, and passports for the goodwin-jones family. whoops. the next hour was so stressful as we tried to get the bag back. we had to call the hotel, who called the cab company, who radioed the cab, who had to drive back to the airport to drop off the bag. plus, paula's phone wasn't working. it was a nightmare. but we did get the bag back. and we didn't even miss our flight!
after one and a half hours on the plane, we arrived. we had to catch a shuttle to get in to paris proper, and to our hotel, the paris republique holiday inn. it is a posh hotel, but no free breakfast. they do, however, provide their guests with condoms in the minibar. hilarious, but also very responsible.
we walked around a bit, had lunch at a small cafe. i ate lamb and french fries (in france! now i just need some french toast, french bread, and a french kiss!), and topped it off with real creme brulee. so yummy. so so yummy. when our baby-faced waiter brought out our food, he asked if we wanted ketchup; nice of him to offer, but do we really look that american? don't answer that.
after dinner: tour d'eiffel. we hopped on the metro and made our way to it. i had heard that the eiffel tower was not that impressive; that it was ugly and boring and not great at all. not true. it is big and impressive and beautiful in the only way a mass of girders and metal can be impressive and beautiful.
we arrived at the tower at twilight, so it was already lit.
we stood in line (even that is cool, because you get to stand right under the tower):
looking up
in the center of the tower, looking up
anyway, so we stood in line at the pilier nord (north pillar), and we arrived at just the right time because we were among the last group of people to whom they sold the last tickets to the top. 
bust of eiffel himself.we waited in line some more, and then got on the elevator to get to the second story. the elevator ride was a little scary because it is glass and you can see everything drop away, and it moves up at an angle because it is in one of the pillar bases. it was disorienting and i hated it. but when we got to the second story, the light show started (it goes every hour on the hour, after dark).
twinkling lights.we watched the twinkling lights, then waited in line for the elevator to the top. the elevator ride to the top was pretty scary, because once again, the elevators are glass and you can see how freaking high up you are going. but we made it to the top. by the time we reached the top, it was almost midnight. it was a lot of waiting.
the view from the top was breathtaking. you could see all of paris, and at night, when the city is all lit up, it is beautiful. the picture above is a great picture because you can see the city, and also the spotlight that is sent out from the top of the tower.
here's me, at the top. 
and me again. it was really cold up there.
the seine, from the top of the eiffel tower.as i mentioned before, on the hour there are lights all over the tower that twinkle on and off for about ten minutes. it makes the tower look like a fairy castle. we got to see the show from the ground, the second story, and the top, all in one trip. it was so cool. i am so glad we went up at night. we spent a while at the top, then headed down because the workers were kicking us out. the tower was closing.
on the elevator ride down i overheard a guy talking to his friend about how it was his birthday. i asked about it, he confirmed it was his birthday, and then the entire elevator sang 'happy birthday' to paul (the guy). it was fun.
back on solid ground we stood in a very long line to catch a taxi. after we had waited 45 minutes without moving forward at all, a guy came up to roger and started talking to him. he pulled us out of line and took us to his car, which was not an official taxi. i was so scared, and all i could think of was that this is how stories of murdered tourists always begin, but he got us home just fine. and we didn't have to wait any longer. we went to bed at about 2am. so tired....
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