Bon Fete! Bon Annee! Freezing fog!

We got up early this morning and Metro-d to Les Invalides, then walked the last bit to the Eiffel Tower, one of Aidan's chief Paris goals. We did indeed beat (most) of the crowds, but the whole city is a single icy breath and there was no point going to the top. So instead we went for feelings of virtue and hoofed it to the 2-ieme Etage. Thought this would be something of a workout but in fact each floor took about 5 minutes, and we would gladly have walked to the top just to say we'd done it. Alas they don't allow this any more, so we merely walked around and took foggy photos. (In #2 below you can just barely see L'Ecole Militarie at the tip of the telescope, less than half a mile away.)

Afterwards we did a serious hike, via the Arc De Triomphe and Parc de Monceau, all thee way back to Montmartre, for a thaw-out and lunch "at home" and a well-deserved afternoon of reading and napping.

Just back from a quick walk around the neighborhood - mainly so that I could see the Lapin Agile, be photographed in front of Picasso's old atelier just up the street at the Bateau-Lavoir (where he painted Les Demoiselles d'Avignon etc. etc.), and generally feel that I was communing with the artistic spirits. Then we ducked into a cafe on Rue des Abbesses for chocolat chaud and vin chaud while people-watching the locals. Smoking having been banned in such places, the men stand at the zinc bar with their aperitifs in one hand and an unlit cigarette in the other. Stubble, a donkey jacket and a raffishly half-furled scarf are de rigeur.

Can't believe it's our last day tomorrow - airport and a full day's travel on Saturday.