Holiday, rainy day, Eiffel Tower, Mom

May 1 is a national holiday in France, so all the museums, all the shops, and nearly all restaurants were closed today.  It rained most of the day and was windy and brisk (mid fifties) outside.  I am coming down with a cold.  To top it off, today is Mom's birthday.

So, I didn't do much today.

I mostly slept, read, and relaxed.  I went for a walk for some reasonably priced water and Coke Zero, and also because I'm now so in the habit of walking a lot every day that I don't feel right if I don't.

In the late afternoon, the rain stopped, but the day was still dreary and overcast.  I'd been hoping to make it to the Eiffel Tower, and I figured a lot of people would have stayed away because of the weather.  So, I grabbed a cab there--the couple of mile walk would have been too much in this weather given my cold--and was able to get upstairs easily and relatively quickly. 

Even through the haze, the view was gorgeous.

Click on any image to see a larger version.

Paris can't help but be lovely.

A view of the tower from a nearby pond and grotto that I hadn't visited before. 

Said pond and grotto, which I quite liked.

I'm mostly losing to this cold, so I've decided to take a nighttime cold medicine in the hopes that it will dry up my sinuses and help me avoid getting sicker.  Given all the places I've been and all the crowds I've encountered, I suppose getting a cold was likely, if not inevitable.  Still, I hope to stop it before it becomes bad.

Mom's birthday makes this a bit of a melancholy day, because I miss her very much.  I think of her and miss her often.  I suppose I always will.

Tomorrow, cold permitting, I hope to go see more great art!