Thanksgiving in Paris

Our original idea for celebrating Thanksgiving in Paris was to have dinner in the Jules Verne restaurant at the top of the Eiffel Tower in the evening.  I made reservations back in the summer for seven o'clock in the evening, but after looking over their menu and seeing the price of 200 Euros a person and imagining spending that much on Marley having bread and butter or maybe some spaghetti noodles, we pondered lunch there, but they still wanted 85 Euros a person for lunch.  A little more research came up with a good compromise, 58 Tour Eiffel, a cafe on the first level of the Tower above the plaza. No reservations are needed, which worked for us because we got a late start on our day.  We took the walk from our apartment toward Trocadero and the Palais De Chaillot, where you can approach the Tower from the north and provides you with the view in the picture I took above.  We had to wait in line to purchase tickets to take the lift up to the first floor and we were surprised to see that it wasn't crowded and we got a table right by the window, looking back at the Palais.

Everyone including Marley managed to find something on the menu they liked, and Annie showed her patriotism by ordering a turkey dinner that was pretty tasty.  We decided that since we got a late start on the day and the weather was better than we expected, we would put off the Louvre and Notre Dame and Ste. Chappelle to our final day on Friday and walk toward the Champs Des Elysees where they had both sides lined with temporary shops with vendors selling all kinds of clothes, hats, food etc.  We saw it on the taxi ride in from the airport on Tuesday and it caught our eye.  It was great to stroll down the Avenue with the holiday lights lit up and enjoy the crowds and the smells and the atmosphere. 

We enjoyed a cup or two of Vin Chaud, which was hot red wine which was perfect for the chilly day that included a brief but intense storm of snow pellets. That didn't dampen the kids appetite for some barbe de papa and a crepe.

The rain came down a little harder which prompted us to grab a cab and head back to the apartment and dinner at a restaurant a short walk away.  The dinner was nice and we are settled in to get ready for a big day tomorrow to head for the Louvre and Notre Dame and Sainte Chappelle.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope the Bengals don't ruin it for anyone.  We'll be happily sleeping through that one!