As yesterday's post outlined, Saturday started with a nice 10km(ish) run for Daniel at about 6am from the hotel, around the courtyard of the Musee Du Louvre and its glass pyramids, through the Jardin Des Tuileries (gardens), across Place De La Concorde (fortunately no traffic around at the time), following the Seine River in line with the start of the Champs-Elysees, cutting across the river to finish with a lap around the base of the Eiffel Tower ... and back. I've done many runs before but that would have to be one of the coolest circuits.
Impressively, the kids and Sandra also managed to follow roughly the same route a couple of hours later after some petit dejeuner (breakfast) at a nearby cafe / restaurant. Outside the place we're staying in the 1st district, there's a large old fountain surrounded by restaurants and pubs which really come alive at night.
Our Saturday walk with the kids took us the best part of 10kms to along my running route, except to go along the shopping area of the Avenue Des Champs-Elysees toward the Arc De Triomphe. We got to relive a little of our last time in Paris eight years ago when Johanna was about 18 months old. Then, we played tag-team eating at a Belgian restaurant while the other walked a very upset and tired Johanna along the Champs-Elysees where we bought her a Mercedes Benz toy car. That store was undergoing a reno yesterday so we couldn't totally repeat the experience, instead settling for a crappy Peugeot for Lach (the sacrifices one must make!).
Impressively, the kids and Sandra also managed to follow roughly the same route a couple of hours later after some petit dejeuner (breakfast) at a nearby cafe / restaurant. Outside the place we're staying in the 1st district, there's a large old fountain surrounded by restaurants and pubs which really come alive at night.
Our Saturday walk with the kids took us the best part of 10kms to along my running route, except to go along the shopping area of the Avenue Des Champs-Elysees toward the Arc De Triomphe. We got to relive a little of our last time in Paris eight years ago when Johanna was about 18 months old. Then, we played tag-team eating at a Belgian restaurant while the other walked a very upset and tired Johanna along the Champs-Elysees where we bought her a Mercedes Benz toy car. That store was undergoing a reno yesterday so we couldn't totally repeat the experience, instead settling for a crappy Peugeot for Lach (the sacrifices one must make!).We then took the Metro underground to the Eiffel Tower ("aaaaaawesome!!" was Lachie's expression, though that's easy enough to say when you've been carried most of the way there by someone else). Fortunately we had pre-purchased our tickets for a quick entry, t
hough the experience was not quite what we were expecting. After about an hour there we were ready to leave when we saw a bunch of staff members and police running around looking a bit concerned. A few minutes later they told us they were locking down the Eiffel Tower and evacuating everyone due to a suspicious package causing a bomb scare. While I'm sure that's all very routine for a landmark of such significance, it was a little disconcerting that the staff managed to disappear very quickly leaving everyone else to fend for themselves (they must have good unions here too!). I'm pretty sure the package was detonated by the police as a very loud bang was heard outside not long later, and an hour and a half later were back on the ground (not exactly a quick evacuation). A weird experience, but as they say here ... c'est la vie!
hough the experience was not quite what we were expecting. After about an hour there we were ready to leave when we saw a bunch of staff members and police running around looking a bit concerned. A few minutes later they told us they were locking down the Eiffel Tower and evacuating everyone due to a suspicious package causing a bomb scare. While I'm sure that's all very routine for a landmark of such significance, it was a little disconcerting that the staff managed to disappear very quickly leaving everyone else to fend for themselves (they must have good unions here too!). I'm pretty sure the package was detonated by the police as a very loud bang was heard outside not long later, and an hour and a half later were back on the ground (not exactly a quick evacuation). A weird experience, but as they say here ... c'est la vie!Just because we hadn't done enough walking for the day, I decided to take the rest of the family for a scenic walk beside the River Seine (I wasn't lost at all), before heading back to the hotel. I then went up to Gare Du Nord to meet Sandra's brother Darrin who caught the Eurostar across from London. I was keeping an eye out for cool police chases around the station, but maybe I've just seen a few too many movies like the Bourne Identity because unlike earlier in the day it was quite uneventful. It was great to catch Darrin, because we all went out for a meal at a restaurant near the hotel where Lach fell asleep at the table after a big day.
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