Museum day in Paris

---

Bonjour! We arrived in Paris yesterday afternoon after a long train ride from Nice. It was a pretty posh high speed train and we had first class tickets so the ride was pretty good but 6 hours with limited leg room is still a long time. This morning we started out at Notre Dame. We were among the first in line but the guy running the place decided to open a half hour late so we still ended up standing in line. Oh well..the view from the top was worth it (420 steps this time) We also checked out the gargoyles and the giant bell on top that weighs 15 tonnes...it takes 16 Quasimodos to ring it. Next we hit the Musee D'Orsay which has all the Impressionist stuff. This museum was so great and it is so easy to get around and to see everything. The building itself is fabulous even without all the art in it...the art is pretty amazing too...Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Renoir.... Next we caught the metro to Arc De Triomphe and climbed...you guessed it...the stairs to the top. The view from there was great too because it is lined up with the Eiffel Tower and you can see way more famous buildings on every side. We caught the metro again to check out some of the more modern parts of Paris. There are some pretty sleek and funky glass buildings and the Grande Arche de la Defense. We grabbed a quick bite to eat (and a grand Starbucks for Phil....the French have these teeny tiny coffees!) and then caught the metro again to the Louvre. We have a museum pass to cover the next 2 days so we have to pack in as many as we can. The Louvre was next to empty because it is open late tonight. We had a good long look at the Mona Lisa with only a handful of other people in the room. We could even walk side to side to watch her eyes follow us. We also saw the other big tourist favourites including the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory. We took in some of the Egyptian stuff which was almost empty too and some of the extremely large French paintings...seriously, I do not know how they even get those paintings into the building...they are that huge. So tomorrow is going to be another museum day since the pass is still good and we have to get our money's worth. I think that we will take in the Picasso museum, Sainte Chappelle, and whatever else we can fit into the day...oh yeah maybe the Eiffel Tower!

---

Photos

Cinque Terre
Phil hit the beach at Cinque Terre

Nice
On the rocks in Nice

Arc De Triomphe
Hanging out in Paris