We Got There At the Right Time

We're at the point on the blog where things now go out of order.  Last night, we did a dinner cruise on the Seine on a boat called the Marina de Paris.  I thought it would be fun, but it was even better than that.  First, we headed east, pretty far past Notre Dame.  Going along the historic buildings (we left from Musee d'Orsay) was neat, as was trucking under the bridges.  But watching people and looking at other boats on the river was an added bonus.  We went past picnickers, impromptu parties, and even people dancing along the banks of the Seine. 

The food was quite good (three of us had the salmon, Torie had the steak, of course).  The appetizers and desserts were quite good too -- samplers of each. 

It was neat going under the Lover's Lock Bridge (see related post to be written), Le Pont Neuf, past the Institute of France (not in that order), Notre Dame, Ile St. Louis, the Hotel de Ville (city hall), the Conciergerie (prison), the Louvre (both coming and going), and Pont Alexandre III.

There were two highlights, both involving the Eiffel Tower.  The first was when we turned around for the second time -- we were past the small scale Statue of Liberty at Pont Bir-Hakeim.  It was lined up with the Eiffel Tower in the background -- I will post some photos.  The second was when the Eiffel Tower put on a light show just as we went past it.  Perfect timing.  The lights on the Tower went crazy dancing, and the boat (a long, glass covered boat with perhaps 40 people out of 100 actually on it) played music to go with the lights.  I took a video and hope to post it.