Today was our first full day in Paris…after having breakie in the hotel (croissants and coffee) we head to Gare de Lyon, the metro station located right across the street from the hotel. We had gotten instructions/directions the night before and felt comfortable that we knew how to get to the meeting spot where our guide to The Louve was suppose to meet us. After one ride on the metro, both Stacy and I feel that we are experts now and can travel anywhere in Paris. Seriously through, the maps are very easy to read and the platforms are easy to navigate. I also got a little homesick when I was squished on the metro…reminded me of Calgary.

We got to the meeting place without a hitch and waited for our guide…we were then re-directed to the main office (about ½ blocks away) to wait with everyone else who was taking the tour. After waiting for a little bit, Vincent finally came out to direct about 15 or so of us to the Louvre (which was only a little walk away). The tour overall was great and Vincent did a really good job…the only thing that Stacy and I commented on was that the tour was twice as long as he had to say everything in English and Spanish. Also, about half way though I really wanted to offer him a breath mint. Here are a few tidbits that I learned – in order to see ever piece of art in The Louve, you would have to spend 15 days at 8 hours at day and only spend 30 seconds at each item so see all 35,000 pieces. The Vatican City fits inside The Louvre…the smallest country fits inside the largest museum. Sometime in the 19th century, an Italian guy broke in and stole the Mona Lisa and tried to sell it at an auction.

After ending the tour at the Mona Lisa, we were on our own. We spent a little bit fighting through the crowds of people to get a good look and take a picture of the Mona Lisa…I have to say, I was quite surprised as how small it was. By this time, we were starving and headed to a buffet type restaurant. Imagine my surprise when I saw you could buy 250ml bottles of wine, how can you say no to a cute little bottle of wine. Feeling the effects of the wine immediately after lunch, I stumbled out of the restaurant where we went back to see a few more things…seriously, this place is huge.

After The Louvre…we thought we would take Hop on-Hop off bus that we pre-paid for (and waited for in the wrong place for over 10 minutes) and head over to the Eiffel Tower. Now, I thought Calgary drivers were bad…&^%$ me, they are INSANE here. Wall to wall cars…I have some pics that I will post. Once we got to the Eiffel Tower, we saw how busy it was…too many people and long line ups so we thought it best to head back to the hotel, relax, eat and try tomorrow morning. On the way back, the bus driver was honking at some chicky on a bike who wouldn’t move out of the way…she was wearing a skirt suit with high heels and motoring along so fast and if you can see, she spits (Stacy noticed that little nugget), we couldn’t help but laugh, it was funny. I do have a video, not the best, however, it is funny…the only thing is this Internet provider we are using sucks big time and will take too long to upload. I will post a note when I am able to upload this video, perhaps Venice.

We will try again tomorrow for the Eiffel Tower and spend some time shopping. We will definitely hit the Louis Viutton store (Tia, my sister, is totally foaming at the mouth right now).

Selena