I'm posting this later than usual because we got in later than usual, and were exhausted. It's morning here now. Anyhoo, we started off yesterday with the Paris Sewer Museum, which my mom thought would be cool. It was pretty interesting, but it's located in an actual operational storm sewer. The smell is horrific, and it sorta ruins the whole experience. I would just skip this place if I were you.
Next was the Centre Georges Pompidou. This building houses France's collection of art from 1905 to now, and does it ever look the part. The stairs, HVAC stuff, elevators, conduits, and pipes all run on the outside of the building, leaving more interior space for exhibits. They've got quite a few post-impressionists and Cubists and Dadaists, but art starts getting really conceptual after World War II, so I would skip this if you don't have a Paris Museum pass. The fountain in front does have a bunch of Niki de Sainte-Phalle's whimsical sculptures, so check that out if you're nearby.
Next, my mom wanted to stop by the best place to get macarons in Paris. Called La Duree, this palace of sugar is located smack dab in the middle of the Champs Elysee, amidst flagship stores of Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and 2 Chainz' House of Luxury Goods and Buxom Strippers. The line for this place is out the door, and the prices per cookie befit what you'd expect for a place frequented by people who just bought 65 dollar socks with an LV on them, but the unlike the ludicrously expensive socks, the macarons are actually worth being twice as expensive as the other stores in Paris.
We next had dinner at La Fumoir, which is located behind the Louvre. Most restaurants near there are tourist traps, serving okay food at good food prices to people who just spent all day walking all over the Louvre staring at pretty things until their eyeballs fell out. Le Fumoir is not one of these places. It actually serves food that is worth the money (the prix fixe menu runs about €35, and includes an amuse bouche in addition to what you order).
After a walk to the Metro station (during which an incredibly rare Ford GT40 raced past us), we went to the Eiffel Tower. We were told that we should go in the evening and take the stairs, as the lines for the elevators would be "horrific" otherwise. If that's the case, I shudder to think how long those waits are, because we waited an hour for tickets for the stairs. These will only get you to the second stage, where the four legs of the tower meet. The top takes a separate ticket, and another separate awful line (45 minutes more in addition to what you just waited for). There is a way to go straight to the top without any wait, but you will pay most dearly for it. The top also includes a fancy restaurant, the Jules Verne. Prices start at €98 for a three course meal, and if you thought you would be clever by just going up there for a cocktail, you aren't. Champagne starts at that much, and you ain't gettin' no Dom Perignon for that neither. If you have just obtained tens of millions of dollars, then I imagine the ambiance would be great (the food at the Jules Verne has been consistently reviewed as mediocre), but the rest of y'all should just take the stairs to the second level, enjoy the views, and drink a beer (which isn't any more expensive than beers on the ground, but is still ludicrous). After all, you just burned off all the calories in it by getting there...
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