Eiffel's Tower

We are quickly adopting the Parisienne lifestyle - getting up later, staying out later - we just don't break for a 2.5 hour lunch yet.   Exploring the Left Bank, we walked down tiny streets filled with wonderful galleries- paintings, furniture, and decorative arts.  We saw where Oscar Wilde, George Sand and Wagner had lived and the beautiful tree filled square where Delacroix ended his days.  From here we walked to the Eiffel Tower.  As we waited in the lines for the elevator (even though we had reservations), I read Rick Steve's everything you would want to know about the Eiffel Tower, and was truly amazed by the design and construction. Since it was designed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution as well as the opening of the 1889 World's Fair, I'm sure Paris is glad that it won the competition rather than the giant guillotine also in the running.  From the summit, on this crystal clear day, we could pick out the landmarks that are now becoming familiar to us. 

We met Esther and Arpad at the Hôtel de Ville for the first Nuit Blanche exhibit - blocks of colored ice (representing the different countries of the world) - slowly melting during this night of temporary installations and performances with the theme of climate change. This was a Paris happening and a rather random one for us.   We followed a group of people into a church and heard the most amazing organ concert. Two young men were improvising on the same organ in a darkened church with the organ pipes eerily lit and towering above.