Day 1 Amazing

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Our First day was wonderful! We stumbled off the metro into a pcturesque neighborhood near st germaine de pres. We were in awe of the beauty and charm of the little streets. Miranda kept pulling me in the direction of a large and looming steeple that could be seen some blocks away, framed by the narrow streets like a tunnel. That's Notre Dame she kept insisting, and I with the map in my head knew we had to cross water before we reqched it. It is on the Ile de la citè in forked by the Seine. Lo and behold as the monstrosity grew with proximity, we noticed just below the street we stood on, the flowing water. It is incomprehensible in size, a streetblock unto itself. Inside is gilded and grand. I happened pon a statue of St. Jeanne D'Arc (Joan of arc) in her magnificent armor. The best part was no line and cost nothing. After that we headed along the Seine to find Rue de L'Odeon where sylvia beach had Shakespeare and company in the 20's, an english language bookstore for expatriot writers. But not before we attempted to manage the post office. We learned a new word, les timbres, are stamps! We did find the actual store that S. & co. inhabited, but it has since been replastered and is a dress shop. But the shop owner pointed to a small framed picture in the window of Ms. Beach standing in front of the original store. We then walked over the famous pont neuf, which is stately but not adorned. The ost exciting thing about the brigde is that it affords a far off view of the tour eiffel and the east wing of the palais du louvre. We had some time to kill before the reduced admission kicked in at 6:00 at the Louvre. so we crossed the pont des arts which is a smaller footbridge of elaborate and beautiful wood structure. A gentleman was strumming a lovely tune on the guitar which turned out to be hotel california. We had a good laugh when we recognized it. so we turned around and headed towards the Louvre, walking under an unassuming arch which opened up into the grand plaza containing the glass pyramide of the Museum. Miranda was stunned into silence. The collection of course is vast, so we picked and chose, seeing first the Venus de Milo, then the winged victory; the Mona Lisa and the Madonna on the rocks to name few. It is easy to get museumed out though. So we will have to return. Ok yawn? more to come...

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Comments

[Tim]

Whaaaa?
Miranda stunned into silence? Don't suppose you got a picture of that? ;) Je vous embrasse bien fort toutes les deux...