The View from Here

Every guide book I read said that it wasn't worth it to wait in line for hours and pay the extra money to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We explained this to the kids before we even left Minneapolis and though they were mildly disappointed, they understood that waiting in long lines would cut into the time we had to do other things.

Today we arrived in Paris and walked down to the Eiffel Tower from our hotel and I found it as beautiful today as it was when I saw it the first time when I was only 17. Many things have changed. You have to go through security to even walk beneath it and soldiers with semi-automatic weapons walk among the crowds. 

Not surprisingly, the kids wanted to go to the top - everything we'd talked about before the trip was quickly forgotten. The lines were long and moving slowly and we told them it could take four hours and they said, "But we're here! We have to!"

So we did. 

It was worth it.

(The images aren't uploading here so you'll have to trust me or head over to Instagram and follow me there.)