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Pre-tour/Day 1 - Eiffel Tower & Monet

I had decided that it would seem absurd to go to Paris and not go to the Eiffel Tower, and if we were going to the Eiffel Tower, we might as well go to the top.  I had booked tickets directly from https://www.toureiffel.paris/en some 60 days in advance, and decided to go up somewhat early (10 a.m.) to help avoid lines as well as free up time for the rest of our day.  We headed straight to the top, albeit having to wait in line for the second elevator. 

 

The Eiffel tower is a monument to ingenuity and engineering of Gustav Eiffel, who both designed and financed it.  I really enjoyed seeing all of the photos and historical exhibits about building the tower, including peeking into Eiffel's cabin (with wax figures) at the top.

 

James Bond fans will of course remember the iconic chase and parachute jump from the Eiffel Tower in "A View to a Kill."  

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One of the more curious stories related to the tower is that of Franz Reichelt, "the flying tailor." Even though all of his previous tests had failed, and many people tried to discourage him, Reichelt jumped off of the first level (190 ft) in an attempt to prove his parachute design, and win a 10,000 Franc prize.  His test, (see the film) was not at all successful.  A later autopsy revealed he died of a heart attack on the way down.  Ironically, even if his invention had worked, American inventor Frederick R. Law, had already won the prize by successfully jumping from the torch of the Statue of Liberty, two days earlier.    

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Some of the best views of the city are from the second floor, and there is less haze.   While I was taking pictures, my wife visited the small shops.  We decided there was no better place to to buy an Eiffel Tower Christmas ornament than on the tower.  Plus having bought a miniature Eiffel tower, one we could honestly say to everyone else in Paris who offered us one, that we already bought one.  C'est la vie.

We ended up having to wait quite a while for the elevator to go down to the first floor, in hindsight, we should have just taken the stairs down.  We did walk down from level one to the plaza, and that actually was quite enjoyable.  Walking down was cooler and allowed us to better see some of the workings of the tower, and best of all, it was much faster.

We then walked from the Eiffel tower towards the Trocadero and had lunch at  Le Wilson, (2 Place du Trocadéro et du 11 Novembre, 75116 Paris, France)  We had a croque madame, (grilled cheese with an egg on top) and a ham and cheese on baguette sandwich with fries. 

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Schedule - Day 1

Eiffel Tower - 65 photos

Marmottan-Monet- 41 photos

Galleries

From there we headed off to visit the Marmottan-Monet Museum   (2 Rue Louis Boilly, 75016 Paris, France).  The Marmottan museum inherited Monet's house and studio at Giverny, as well as Monet's personal collection of art, which included more than 100 of Monet's paintings.  To make the most of your visit, I'd highly recommend getting the audio guide.

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I particularly wanted to see Monet's painting "Impression, Sunrise" that gave the name to the whole Impressionist movement.  Monet is a very popular artist, so his paintings are often loaned for traveling exhibitions around the world.  Unfortunately for us, the iconic namesake painting was out on exhibit in Australia.  C'est la vie.

 

Fortunately there were various prints of it on display in the gift shop.  The mansion museum also has a variety of exceptional decorative objects and paintings on display, including paintings by Renoir, Manet, Caillebotte, Degas, Pissarro, and Sisley, and a variety of items related to Napoleon, including his bed. 

 

The Marmottan-Monet also has a whole section of Medieval and Renaissance art that is impressive in quality.  While we were there, they had a special exhibition called "Oriental Visions" featuring paintings of North Africa.  The exhibit included works by Delacroix, Monet, Renoir, Matisse and even Kandinsky.  

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At 5:00 pm our tour officially began as we met up at the hotel with our group and guide.  After introductions and a brief orientation to things we needed to know about the trip, we went out for a neighborhood orientation walk and then dinner at Le Weppler (14 Place de Clichy, 75018 Paris, France).  I had the fish which was great, but the best part was the finale, Ile flottante (the floating island) dessert.  Hard to describe, but very, very good.

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