Our last shore tour was to Paris.  The ship made port in Le Havre France which is about a 4 hour bus ride away from Paris.  We did not have a clear plan for Paris and no organized tour selected.  We hopped on a bus and 3 1/2 hours later we were dropped in the heart of Paris.  I wanted to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower  and have a gander at the city.  So we started walking towards the Eiffel Tower.  We walked, and we walked some more.  Then we walked further and even further still.  We wasted nearly an hour walking to the Eiffel Tower.  We should have hailed a taxi and been there in five minutes.  Once at the Eiffel Tower we had to stand in line to buy tickets to go up in the Eiffel Tower.  Once we had our tickets we stood in line again to traverse to the middle level.  Once on the middle level you once again found yourself in line awaiting the elevator / cable car to the top observation point.  Once up on top and you have had your fill of the views of Paris you get to stand in line to go back to the middle level and then wait in line for the ride back down to terra firma.  We arrived at the Eiffel Tower at 11:00 AM and left looking for a cab around 1:15 PM.  Two hours, plus the damn walk up there expended.  

Now we were smart and hailed a taxi, which we had to stand in line for, to take us to the Louvre museum.  When we arrived at the Louvre there was a line about a half a mile long to get in, and this was a Sunday!  So with disappointment in our heart we ventured off to find lunch.  We stopped at a small street cafe and went inside, it costs 15% more to eat outside for tourists.  Karen went to wash her hands while I looked at the menu.  Surprisingly the menu was also printed in ENGLISH!  So we were able to make intelligent guesses for our lunch fare.  While Karen was in the restroom I noticed another patron receive a plate full of fries and two big sausages, and it smelled really good.  I decided that is what I wanted.  Karen returned and she chose a ham sandwich and fries and I ordered the sausage and fries and we each had a soda.  When our lunch arrived, Karen's ham sandwich had one single thin slice of ham on it and my sausages turned into regular hot dogs.  I figured we had just been had.  I am sure if we would have questioned the waiter about it his English would have become lost.  So we ate our little lunch while looking at another lady who had some really scary looking scabs all over her legs who was wearing a skirt and not making any efforts to cover her ghastly looking legs up.  Time to pay our lunch tab which equated to just about $43.00.  Arghhhhh!  We left the cafe and observed another wedding procession, this time in a horse drawn carriage.  The bride was pretty but she was really into smoking her cigarette and waving.  Then we just wandered around on a main street in and out of the little stores open on a Sunday for us tourists.  Karen bought a few items and a nice sweatshirt and we headed back to meet our bus back to the ship.

The French countryside at a rest stop near Paris

The countryside was not as green as in Ireland

They must have just harvested this field

Dropped off in Paris near a bridge

The other side of the bridge

The Eiffel Tower in the distance

The camera makes it look closer

The top observation deck

Two beauties

The second bridge

Tiny little car

The right hand car is about the size of a Ford Focus

Getthing closer to the tower

A hot air balloon from the middle observation deck

Paris from the middle observation deck

Another picture from the middle observation deck

The Sienne river

A soccer match from the middle deck

A view from the top observation deck

From the top deck looking down

Paris scenery

The fifth bridge down is where the bus dropped us off

Zoomed in, the fifth bridge is just to the right

The third and fourth bridge from the Eiffel Tower

Paris is a big city

A really big city

This is the only time Karen came close to the edge

I was that far off the ground and was not forced into orbit

More Paris

More Paris, panning left

Still panning left

Yep, it is a big city, wonder why the Germans wanted it

Another shot of the river and the bridges

The river in front of the tower

The tower's shadow falls on the river

The river and bridges to the left

Ok, let's get down now

One side of the base of the tower

The other side

The tourists

Looking up from the base

Another golden statue

Close up of the horse

The winged horse

The courtyard for the Louvre museum

The famous Louvre pyramid

A arch

Karen in front of the pyramid

The assistant taxi driver

The city center

I think she is tired

Here comes the bride

Nice outfits

The Bride and her cigarette

Off to the honeymoon

Where we had our Parisian lunch

The Eiffel Tower and statues

The fountain, dry

There is my car

Someone turned the water back on

An Egyptian inspired structure

Proof Karen shopped until she dropped

The fountain again

A pair of horse statues

The "World Traveler"

Is that our bus

Neat steeples

Another French statue

A very swank hotel

Last shot of the tower, I promise

Karen waiting for the bus

Chuck holding up all of Paris

A nice tree lined walkway

A little park

Our bus back to the ship

HAHAHA  I lied, one more of the tower

A shot of a statue from the bus

Parting shot of Paris