Monday at the Louvre

We did not get a very early start to the Louvre today. I saw Lynne off to class and then Rosie and I pulled ourselves together and left. We got to the line for tickets and it stretched completely around a fountain. Rather than stand in that line we followed Rick Steve's travel guide recommendation to get our tickets in the mall (a shorter line in a warm mall for a euro more, but worth it!)

After we had our tickets, we thought we should make a rest stop in case we had to stand in another line. It cost 1 euro to visit the rest room in the mall. We then entered the Louvre through the mall entrance where the line was much shorter than outside. There were scores of people, but in a place that big, the crowds were not too bad in any given area with the exception of the big attractions. The Mona Lisa, of course, had a big crowd around it, the Venus de Milo, the trois graces (a new acquisition). It was awe inspiring to see all of those famous works of art and the Louvre itself is very beautiful. We spent more than five hours there and the combination of all the walking (11086 on the pedometer) and the hard marble floors really wore us. We were dragging by the time we left.

Back at the apartment, we had a little wine and took off our shoes while we waited for Lynne to return. We went out to eat after seven and found a little restaurant where we ate meal sandwiched in at small tables in a row with Parisians on all sides. It was probably our most authentic experience, but not an example of fine cuisine. It was more like a restaurant with home cooking in the states. A man next to us struck up a conversation (using his broken English and French). He told us that the French are "proud" of Americans for electing Barack Obama. They did not like President Bush at all.

This marked the end of our 5 day pass on the Metro, but we each bought a packet of ten more trips and will see how long that lasts. Rosie and I have visted the ATM 3 times--not that we have spent that much money, but we are saving up to pay our share of the apartment at the end of the week. Unfortunately for us, the exchange rate is going up each day, but in the scheme of things, it is not that bad for a trip like this. It is 3:40am your time, so I will say bon soir.