Ground - 1, Charlotte - 0

Since we arrived, every time Charlotte gets a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower she would exclaim, 'Tour Eiffel, Tour Eiffel!' so we knew that, at some point, we would need to visit this icon up close.  Luckily, we made a reservation 2 weeks ago so we didn't have to worry about the 2 hour line-up out front!  As we were approaching this morning, Charlotte got so excited that she started to run ... well, you can guess what happened next.  Charlotte tripped on something and wiped out so badly that she didn't even get her hands up in time - her face and her knees took the force of the blow.  She really is a trooper though - after we got the grit out of her mouth and checked that all her teeth were still there, she was willing to stick with the program.  I would have wanted to go home!  

Although we were able to skip the line-up, there were still hordes of people at all of the different levels along the way up.  We were able to enjoy the view but felt sorry for poor Charlotte who just wasn't herself.  One way to take the sting out of a fat lip is ... ice cream!  This fit in well with Jack's nefarious plan since he wanted to take a detour to Carette - another patisserie on our list – and try their Paris Carette pastry (a choux pastry with pralines, chocolate and cream).  The girls ordered ice cream sundaes that they needed a step ladder to eat and relished every last drop (except for all the drops that ended up on their clothes)! 

After a quiet and civilized snack at Fauchon, Jack and I did a little shopping and then hit a Marilyn Monroe photo exhibit and Saint-Sulpice Church.  Last stop was dinner outside at Les Fines Gueules, a simple wine bar with rustic food.  This was perfect for a warm, summer night.  Early to bed as tomorrow we tackle the behemoth, the unmentionable, the only thing that the kids will even remember about this whole trip … any guesses?