Paris

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We spent a long day yesterday traveling through France. We decided to head straight for Paris, skipping the Burgundy region. Too little time left to waste on more wine and cheese and we both are excited to see Paris and Normandy. Today we went to the Louvre Museum, expecting a mile long line like in the Vatican. Surprisingly we walked in after a 5 minute wait, got tickets from a machine and within 10 minutes we were staring at the Mona Lisa! She is much smaller in person! It was strange seeing it because we have seen so many replicas and pictures our whole lives, it almost didn't seem real. Same with the Venus de Milo. We spent a long time wandering through the Egyptian section where most of the artifacts and artwork are several millenium old. Lots of intricate jewelry, sarcophagi and tombs, and even mummified cats, birds and fish! And dice - they haven't changed in 3000 years! Then we wandered through the ancient Greek and Roman areas, but seriously - nothing can compare to the Vatican and by that point we were getting a little burned out.

By the way, its freezing here. Probably about 50 degrees F. Pretty cold coming from Italy where it was nice and sunny and warm. We needed a break from the cold so we went to see The DaVinci Code movie - pretty cool after spending the morning in the Louvre! We have yet to eat one of those famous French meals, maybe tonight. Our hotel is pretty cheap and small, but its fairly clean. We have been using our LetsGo guide (thanks J&G!) to find most of our lodging, travel (metro and bus), and sightseeing info. It would be nearly impossible without a good guide book.

On a lighter side, we have found Jamie's (pierside) comment about the BO to be totally true! I think the deoderant companies must have trouble distributing over here because when we ran out and went to look for some, it was impossible! Anyone reading should send Proctor and Gamble a note telling them to get on the ball! But everyone here seems to just take it for granted. Sara was actually awakened by the smell of a passerby on the train yesterday - maybe a new idea for an alarm clock! Just think, you too could be blasted with fresh French (or Italian!) BO first thing in the morning!

And another thing....most of the Italians we spoke to in broken Italian (we have been doing our best to use the local languages) were understanding and would return conversation in English most of the time with a smile. So far in France, our lame attempts (but genuine!) at speaking French are answered with a rapid fire of French words or no response at all. We are hoping that changes as our phrases improve.

We hope everyone is doing well. Thanks for the numbers Chris, we'll be calling y'all soon, take it easy,
love,
jrandsara

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Comments

[Dad Ryan]

Smell
From what I hear, the French will not warm up their personalities nor will they smell any better, any time soon. So hold your noses and your tempers while you enjoy the beautiful scenery and history. I'm anxious to hear about Normandy. While you are there, look up and say hello to your grandfather from you and me. Love, DAD

[Travis]

hello
hey sara n jr, jamie just forwarded me this blog, sounds like your having a great time! wish i was there. not sure how this works but could you add me? [e-mail]