Just another day in Paris

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We woke up early and headed to the Louvre before opening to avoid the crowds. Amazingly, when we got there 15 minutes early there were already about 300 people waiting to go in. When we finally left a couple of hours later there were about 3 million inside! Well, maybe a slight exageration but word to the wise - go to the Louvre early in the morning!

We saw the glass-encassed Mona Lisa. I'm not sure which was more of a sight, Da Vinci's lover or the masses of people lined up to get a picture of her! Amazing.

We wandered and got lost numerous times thoughout the 12 mile museum and only did a quarter of it - missed the french paintings entirely! Saw the Venus de Milo though but will have to leave the missed opportunities for next time. What a spectacular palace though. It's huge and incredibly ornate. Compared to Hampton Court I'd have to say that the french Kings lived much more extravagantly then the english monarchs (and Henry the VIII didn't live too shabbily)!

It's cool and rainy here today. Sure am glad we left our warm clothes in London! Funny how it was sweltering there and it's cooler here - I was convinced it'd be the other way around. Hoping for heat in Provence though b/c our pants are getting baggy and icky from so much wear. Want to don shorts and skirts now!

Had an Illy coffee from our little cafe and noticed that my barista had a certificate on the wall noting that he had completed the Italian coffee course at the University of Coffee. I kid you not! The coffee was good but I wouldn't say it was degree-standing.

Met a couple from Toronto at a creperie during lunch and exchanged travel itineries (there are way more tourists here than locals at the moment - there's more english spoken than french. Kind of annoying actually but that's what we get for travelling to Europe in July I guess). The Toronto couple were travelling Paris to the Middle East. I regrettably but candidly told them "good luck". Probably shouldn't have said that to someone heading to the dodgy parts of the world but I've moved on from 14 cl of wine (one glass) to 50 cl. Oops! I thought I had only ordered a large glass of 25 cl (god onloy knows what a "cl" is). Live and learn and insult your fellow tourists. Vive le France!

Just had our 6pm nap and am now heading back over to the quaint St. Germain Blvd area for dinner. Think we're going to forego french food tonight and sample some italian. Will be sure to give you a full report.

Miss you all!

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