Paris: Eiffel Etc

I spent the weekend continuing my exporation of Paris, first starting with the Eiffel Tower. I was lucky enough to snap a very cool picture of a rainbow-cloud hovering right above it, early in the morning.

I had decided earlier that I wanted to take the stairs up the tower - Hey, after climbing the Great Wall, how lazy would I seem if I took the elevator, right?

As it turns out, that was a pretty sharp idea. Taking the stairs is half as expensive, and take a look at the line-ups -->

On the left: Elevator. On the right: Stairs. Best of all, there were two elevator line-ups.

I snapped this one from the first-floor of the tower. As you can see, there's a truth that's valid anywhere you are: People are lazy. Using the stairs was a bit tiring, but I definitely climbed faster than anyone who decided to use the elevators.

Afterwards, I headed to the Musée de l'Armée - a place that's pretty much the equivalent of the Canadian War Museum. There were excellent exhibits about the two World Wars, Charles DeGaule, medieval weapons, and most impressively, a cathedral that houses the tomb of Napoleon.

On Sunday, I headed for a few more notable landmarks - the Notre Dame cathedral as well as the Père Lachaise cemetary, which houses the remains of different ranges of important figures - from Molière to Jim Morrison.

I've really enjoyed the sight-seeing thus far, but the one I'm most excited about lies ahead - Juno Beach, where Canadian troops stormed the German front during World War II. I'll be heading to Normandy early tomorrow morning, to spend the day there. I'm planning on visiting the Juno Beach Centre, a museum that presents the Canadian point-of-view to the Second World War.

Have a good week!

6 more days 'til I land in Ottawa.