The weather is fairly dry today, but a bit on the cool side.
After gathering everyone this morning, we took our bus to the Eiffel Tower – planned to take up the entire morning.
As Dan said, he was fully prepared to be underwhelmed by the tower, but that didn’t happen. It lives up to its hype.
Most of us went all the way to the top and spent most of the morning there. Birdie went up to the second level, about 200 feet up, but stayed there.
Poolman and Dan at the top
After spending the better part of two hours on the tower, we returned to one of the lower levels for lunch at a very nice restaurant there.
Birdie and Ron at lunch
We had wine and water to drink. The meal consisted of a smoked salmon appetizer (or entre, as they call it in Paris), roast chicken (again) and scalloped potatoes for the main course, and an outstanding cheesecake for dessert. 
The cheesecake was garnished with a small, orange fruit that we could not identify. Kumquat? Persimmon? Any ideas?
After lunch, we got on the bus for the trip to Arnhem. We started in France; drove through Belgium; and ended up in the Netherlands. We got in around 9 o’clock. After getting squared away in our room, we retired to the bar and restaurant for beer and sandwiches.
Tomorrow, we start two days of concentrating on the Operation Market-Garden (A Bridge Too Far).
Your pictures are amazing. Keep them coming. I’m really enjoying your posts! Meghan
Mike….your pictures are great. Keep them coming. I’m really enjoying your posts! Meghan
Mike, everyone that I have sent the link to has been having a wonderful time reading the events! Good job! Also, please tell Birdie his check is in the Bank! LOL, LA
Ditto on what Lee Ann said about everyone enjoying the blog! There are about a dozen of our friends checking it every night. Sounds like everything is awesome. Hope you enjoy the Market-Garden sights tomorrow. Josh misses his daddy.
I enjoyed your account of the visit to the Eiffel Tower, it gave me a memory nudge!
My pleasure. Thanks for stopping by for a visit.
Hey, Dad. I think it’s a kumquat. Miss you! Love, k.
It’s a Kumquat. A persimmon is about the size of a tangerine..Loving the blog. DB
Ah, the mystery is solved. Thanks.
Wow! Your pictures from the Eiffel Tower are stunning. I appreciate you sharing the view, as I have a phobia of heights and would likely go no further than Birdie did.
Love these pictures 🙂 I agree about the tower, I was ready to be underwhelmed…but it was simply amazing!
I loved your blog account of your trip. Can you find Bill’s apartment in the photo from the tower? Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Mike, the fruit garnishing the cheesecake at the Eiffel lunch is called Physalis. The leaves are actually the capsule for the fruit. Our server wrote it down for me, and even told me the name of the “marche” where I could purchase it…like I had time to go grocery shopping or could get it past the Beagle at Philly customs. I just thanked her , without indicating that buying Physalis at the Monoprix was not going to happen. It certainly was pretty though, wasn’t it!
Joanna —
Cool. Thanks. It was great traveling with you and Bill. Hope you made it home in one piece. See you at the wedding this fall.