Nouveau Message

It's kind of fun to click on that instead of the boring "new post" link in the English blogger! :-)

This is actually yesterday's post, but we got in late enough last night that it just wasn't happening. So, I'm sitting here typing while we wait for our breakfast to arrive. (I'm glad you don't think this is boring Kristen! lol!)

Yesterday we started out with a room service breakfast served out on our terrace with views of the city. (note to self: must take pictures from our terrace). We really can't see anything majorly exciting, but it's a fun city view. After that we decided to brave the Metro to head down to the Notre Dame. I was so impressed by the Metro! Especially since we ride the L system in Chicago as our main mode of transportation. The Metro was extremely clean and efficient... and very easy to navigate. At Notre Dame we started our Rick Steves Historic Paris audio tour that we had downloaded from iTunes. I just love Rick Steves' guides so this was perfect. It took us through the Notre Dame and then around to the Deportation Memorial. We then crossed the Seine and wandered through the Left Bank a bit. We had lunch at a nice little Indian Restuarant in the Latin Quarter which came with a shot of Cognac when the bill came. LOL! From there we crossed back across the Seine and toured the Conciergerie and then lined up for entrance into Sainte-Chapelle. I have to tell you the wait was definitely worth it! The stained glass panels were absolutely amazing! I took a ton of pictures but I'm sure they do not do it justice. It was just awe inspiring.

After we finished our tour we found ourselves near the Louvre. We were tired and it was already after 3:00 in the afternoon, but we had purchased the museum passes so we could easily come back again the next day. So, we decided to go in for a couple of hours. Now, if you've read my posts from February, you know that the kids and I spent hours and hours in the Chicago Art Institute, so I thought I would be prepared. It was just completely overwhelming. We tried to do the Rick Steves Audio Tour of the Louvre but the first item on the tour had been relocated due to remodeling in one area so we just turned off our iPods and started aimlessly wandering room to room. We did decide to hit a few of the "must sees"... we saw the Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo and, of course, the Mona Lisa. We also went to the Napoleon Apartments. I took pictures as they were allowed. I'm probably very sensitive to this being a (hobbiest) photographer but I am constantly amazed by the boldness of people and their point and shoot cameras. I saw numerous people taking pictures in rooms that clearly stated "no photography" at the enterance. And... everyone was using flash which is a no-no in art musuems. To top it off, they were using flash in the no photography rooms!!! Okay, vent over.

After the Louvre, we hopped on the Metro back to our hotel and relaxed until time for our dinner reservations. We just went to a little cafe close to our hotel and had a wonderful relaxed meal. An appetizer of Avacado Tartre, Steak Frites and Creme Brulee. Mmmmm.....

Then we took off to see the Eiffel Tower after dark. I took a ton more pictures (and yes, with "le tilt" Meg... I tried to take some straight but even those were slightly crooked! LOL!). I was impressed with the tower just lit up and then around 10pm, it began to glitter!!! Hundreds (thousands?) of lights twinkled on and off all over the tower!! It lasted maybe 10-15 minutes. I tried to capture it with my camera, but it just didn't work. I think I needed my tripod. We were going to take a boat cruise on the river but my camera was acting up (I'm hoping it was just the battery) so we headed back to the hotel.

Well... breakfast has arrived, so I'm going to go! I'll try to post again tonight about our adventures today!