6.28.18 Eiffel Tower, Hop on Hop Off Boat, Notre Dame, Impressionist art

Our day started with a skip the line small group tour of the Eiffel Tower. We decided to take an Uber from the hotel since I was having trouble navigating the streets and we didn't want to be late. 

The tour was booked with Memories DMC and it was great. Our guide was Ferret - named after Iron not the animal. We skipped the long lines and headed up to the 3rd level before it got too crowded. We had plenty of free time for our own pictures and some macarons! 

 Then, we went down to the second level where we walked around and he explained more about the major monuments in Paris. 

After the Eiffel Tower, we got our tickets for the Hop On /  Hop Off Bato Bus. This was so great! It was so nice not to be in traffic. The boat does a route along with Seine that lined up with some of the major attractions we wanted to see. Plus it picked up right at the Eiffel Tower. 

We got off at Notre Dame and found a great restaurant for lunch.  They had gluten free options and the lady who served us was so nice. This is where my sister found out that my mom and I drink wine at lunch on vacation. It was quite shocking. LOL! 

 After lunch, we headed to Notre Dame. The security line was long, but moved quickly. We decided against the tour because it includes 400 steps and you go up really high in the church. 

 We were able to find the 'mother-in-law" gargoyle our Eiffel Tower tour guide told us about. Allegedly, the mother in law of the architect was a real pain and would arrive at Notre Dame during construction and berate him. He got revenge by making one of the gargoyles in her likeness with a hat and a cane. 

 We hopped back on the bus and headed toward Orangerie - a museum built to display Monet's water lilies series. It was incredible. We had a very stressful street crossing since Paris traffic is nuts. Cars were all blocking the walkway. My mom yelled, "I see a green walk sign" and we ran across the street zigzagging between a bus and cars. 

We headed over the bridge with the love locks and visited Musee D'Orseey. 

The building is gorgeous and we enjoyed all the Impressionist art. 

 We also enjoyed the café with HUGE cheese plate. This was marked as a big plate on the menu. We laughed. 

We headed back to Little Nonna and it was open! My mom was in heaven with all the  glutren free options. It was the best gluten free bread! I had a great octopus dish. 

The day started at 8:30 am and ended back at the hotel at 10 pm.