Market and Eiffel Tower

May 20

Today started with the Grenelle Market. We gave everyone a much needed break with our museum visit not until 1:00pm. So everyone had a little time to sleep in and enjoy the open air market that comes to our neighborhood on Wednesdays and Sundays. This market is a wonderful place to see and purchase everything from food to fresh flowers to costume jewelry to clothes not to mention great little souvenirs like miniature Eiffel Towers. I saw a lot of our students walking around with bags of goodies so I think they really enjoyed it. Everything is so beautifully displayed that there are also great photo opportunities at the market. We were planning an evening picnic for the Eiffel Tower so some students were able to buy picnic items like fresh fruit, cheese and baguettes.

During the afternoon, we went to the Museum of Decorative Arts. This museum contains period rooms filled with furniture and accessories. This was a particularly interesting museum for the interior design students. This museum’s holdings begin with the Middle Ages and extends through to the current decade.  Beyond furniture we saw candle sticks, vases, decorative boxes, china and silverware. It was really interesting to listen to the audio guide for a brief explanation in English. All of the museum signs are in French.

So, as I mentioned we planned to walk up to the Eiffel Tower in the evening so the students could ride/walk up the tower and get a bird’s eye view of the city of Paris. When we got there, the line for the elevators was very long so many of our students opted to run up the stairs. I believe there are 700 stairs to get to the first floor of the Tower. From that point, the line for the top floor of the Tower is quite a bit shorter. There is no option to climb stairs to the tippy top. Those that did ride up to the very top are rewarded with a very nice view of the whole metropolitan area of Paris.

Rain drenched picnic

Musee Louvre

Some of us chose not to go up in the tower so we began our picnic. Unfortunately, before the evening was over, the clouds blew in and it started to rain. At first it was just a few drops but soon the rain was coming down in sheets. Most of us got drenched on the way home. I am still waiting for my shoes and socks to dry!