Rainy day in Paris

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I arrived in Paris after a good nights sleep on the "TrenHotel" from Madrid. I left my backpack in a locker and headed out to see Paris. I walked along the Seine wandered through Notre Dame (I was waiting to go up in the towers, however they hadn't opened for the day by 10:20 and should have been open at 10 so I left)

I saw the town hall with a nice "PARIS2012" sign for the Olympics. They had signs all over town creating excitment about the games possibly coming to town "J'aime les Joux" which I was told means "I Love the Games" not "I Love the Jews"

I next found the Louvre. I am not much of a museum lover but this place is incredible. It is huge and has great art from allover the world and all through time. People sit and sketch all over the place and even repaint classic paintings. I even saw the Mona Lisa which was exactly the size I expected, most people say it is smaller than they expected.

I met Karine for lunch and then an awesome tour of Paris and a great Moracan dinner with her boyfriend Fred, the waiter kept talking to me as though he was Ali G so I gave him my best Borat imitation, needless to say we had a great time.

I caught a early train to Brussells and then onto Gent where Ann, Brian and Blanca were. We spent the day in Gent and went to a party that night in an amazing loft apartment with a pool table. Brian and I showed them how pool is meant to be played, even if we had to use their rules.

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Photos

Notre Dame in the mist
My first view of Notre Dame

Inside of Notre Dame
This stained glass window would be amazing on a sunny day.

Paris can make you lose your head
(especially the sceond saint on the right) These statues are on the entrance to Notre Dame, the stone work is exceptional.

Eiffel Tower
At night they light the entire tower with bright twinkly white lights for 5 minutes each hour, (I didn't get a picture of that) If you want the same experience look at this picture in a dark room and have someone hit you in the head, or go to Paris yourself.

Paris Town Hall
They are ready for the Olypmic Committee's visit.

The Louvre
It is amazing how this modern structure fits within these ancient buildings.

Artist imitating Art
in the Louvre there were many people working on recreations fo paintings right in the gallery, some were much closer to completion than this guy.

Karine looking French
How else could she look?