Walk like a Parisian

When in Paris...do as the Parisians do.

We awaken from a GREAT night sleep. Get our showers and head downstairs.

*** SIDEBAR: Remember in a prior post I mentioned the 'forbidden' courtyard in my previous hotel? Well turns out that Citadines (old hotel) and Novotel (new hotel) is a connected in a typical Parisian building which has a central courtyard. Turns out that courtyard belongs to Novotel though and is only available to Novotel guests. The guy could have told me this last year. So I went into 'the forbidden' courtyard. Took a pic and emailed it to Becky. Ha ha ha! ***

The kids and I head out to the Louvre. If done right, that should take up most of the day. Through my research I knew that trying to enter the Louvre through the pyramid would mean waiting in line all day. So we went to one of the side entrances, close to the Seine, we were able to walk right in. Of course the most popular attraction at the Louvre is the Mona Lisa, so we start following the signs that leads to her. Along the way we get wrapped up in the art. My daughter thought she loved bookstores, well turns out she LOVES museums.

  

We spend most of the day in the Louvre, taking pictures. We finally get to the room with the Mona Lisa. The crowd is just ugh. We get closer and there is the little picture, behind a glass wall and with armed guards...really?! That's it?! Yep, that was it. We were not impressed. We take a pic then prepare to leave as the crowd is annoying. We turn around and WOW. If you ever go into the room in the Louvre where the Mona Lisa is located, stand in front of her and then turn around. There was a picture, floor to ceiling (about 20 - 30 feet tall), beautiful. We spent our next moments reviewing that piece. Wondering how it was created, especially at that scale. Even my son was impressed with the Louvre. He had grown accustomed to the nudity by now, but was still concerned about the small sizes of the men's penises, LOL.

When we exited the Louvre, through the pyramid, we decided that a boat tour was in order. I had run out of Euros and had not been able to locate a working ATM (my tips have a purpose) so I was trying to use my Visa. Every boat we went to said they do not take Visa. We get to one that does and while purchasing our passes, I see that they offer a discount to people with an International SOS card. Huh, what I tell ya?

We get on the boat tour and start paying attention. Apparently there were stops all along the Seine, so if you do the boat tour, you don't have too walk. You can buy a pass for the day and use the boat as a taxi to get around. Son of a gun. We road the boat down to the Eiffel stop and got off. We then went to the Eiffel Tower, this time we want to go up. Me, I'm not good with heights, but I'm a trouper, so let's do this.

We wait in line, about 30-45 minutes, luckily they take Visa and we get on. They pack you like sardines on those elevators. We get to the 2nd floor and get off. The kids are more excited than I've ever seen them....me, I have vertigo. I adjust and even I can admit that the view is AMAZING. The top level is so full that they say it will be over an hour before they start letting anyone back up there...I'm not waiting another hour. The kids say they will go to the top on our next visit....they want to come back!!!!

We go back down, so to the boat launch and catch our boat back towards home. It rains a little, but we are on a covered boat so it's ok. We get off on the Notre Dame stop and walk home, taking in shops as we go. We get back to our neighborhood and sit in the Fontaine des Innocents courtyard for a while, sightseeing and people watching before we go back to the hotel for the night.

Tomorrow, more museums.