Monday, September 12, 2016-Paris Day 2
Another late start for us today. Reasonable considering we got back to the hotel close to 2am after watching the Seahawks game.
The goal today was to tackle the Louvre. This is the largest Museum in Europe and it tends to be pretty crowded. We Ubered (is that a verb?!) over to the Louvre and after many ohhs, ahhs, wows! over the size of the place, we got in line for security check. It moved quickly but it was hot as b@@@@ that day so our patience with each other was pretty thin. 🙂
The Louvre is overwhelming. It was packed so I was getting a bit claustrophobic plus my internal GPS does not work very well. Translation, I get lost even with a map. So I decided to follow Nani – Bibo ditched us since we walk too slow -and asked every attendant we encountered for directions.
My favorite rooms were the Egyptian rooms, the Greek statutes (Ares was my favorite Greek God) and some of the paintings of the Italian Renaissance; like Da Vinci’s Virgin and child with St. Anne. 3 generations in that painting. It’s beautiful!
The Venus de Milo was beautiful and she had six pack abs!
Mona Lisa underwhelms, not sure what all the hoopla is about but people were packing the room where she was at. I did not bother fighting the crowds for a pic of Mona.
Want to see more? Here you go! Louvre Virtual Tour – 6 min long Not my video but something I found in You Tube when i was doing my research on the place.
After we met with Bibo at the rendezvous point, we left the Louvre thru the underground stores. Yep we did a bit of shopping. Bibo was so patient. ❤
Once we finished our short shopping expedition, we walked thru the Jardin de Tulleries and took a little break. The place is beautiful and it had these nice chairs were you can actually recline a bit and take a nap if needed.
Past the Jardin is Place de la Concorde. You can’t miss the obelisque that sits right in the middle of the Place. This is the place where all the public beheadings with the guillotine occurred. Maria Antoniette and King Louis XVI were beheaded here. 😦
Up the street is Champs Elysees. Lots of major designers and stores are here. Yes, more shopping.. Sigh.. One perk, there is free Wi-Fi all along this long road. Kids were happy. In the times of King Louis XIV this was the place where you will come on your carriage to be seen.
Nani found the mothership at 101 Champ Elysees, the Louis Vuitton Store. She patiently stood outside in line to go in and after browsing for a while, decide to listen to the voice in her head – Me- and not spend her hard earned money there. ;). In the meantime Bibo and I went to check out our rides. Lol
At the top of Champ Elysees is the Arc de Triomphe. This was Napoleon’s way of commemorating the victory of the 1805 battle of Austerlitz. The Tomb of the unknown soldier is there too. 😦
After making it to the Arc de Triomphe, we were exhausted so we decided to call it a day. We had dinner at a very nice little restaurant – Les Temps des cerises – next to our hotel. Here Bibo tried the escargots for the first time and loved them.
Tomorrow is a full day at Versailles, the largest Palace in France. Can’t wait!
Much love, Ana ❤
Adventuring and other travel musings... 