Tour de Paris
Yesterday Kristina and I celebrated her birthday and our day off by touring the city. We woke up bright and early to take advantage of whole day. Our plan was to take the metro to the Louvre to save some cash. Having never rode a subway or underground transportation system I left Kristina to read the map (she’s traveled on the tube in London). We had one initial hiccup trying to figure out how to buy tickets (spending nearly 15 minutes at the ticket booth) but got along fairly well after that.
Our first stop was the Louvre. We arrived just a few minutes before it opened and were pleasantly surprised by the lack of lines and people. The sun was just coming up over the pyramids and the outside of the museum was beautiful. We waltzed right in and bought tickets which were only 9.5E each. We headed for the Mona Lisa first and were surprised by how small it was.
I was most impressed by the intricate artwork and architecture on the museum itself. After touring the paintings and sculptures for awhile the museum began to get overrun with tourists and we ventured back outdoors. Although I took pictures, they didn’t turn out spectacular and certainly don’t do the scene justice.
This painting was enormous!
Following the Louvre we took the metro to Notre Dame. This was absolutely spectacular. The inside was majestic and breathtaking. I think I was more impressed with that than the Louvre.
Building of the Notre Dame
From there we wandered around typical tourist shops and strolled up and down St. Michel to shop. Everything is in bloom making the scene gorgeous. We bought ice cream and croissants and strolled along the river, enjoying the scenery and beautiful day.
We enjoyed a three hour meal at a local cafe. We sat outside sipping wine and reminiscing on the past. It was incredibly relaxing. I would love to live this life on a regular basis.
Later we decide to hop on the metro and go somewhere random. Kristina chooses a line and we wind up in the ghetto. Perhaps that is a slight exaggeration…we were lucky enough to stumble upon this man outside selling candy, our favorite.
We really cannot get enough of these smurfs!
I only have only one more day in Paris. We fly out Sunday as long as the volcano eruption doesn’t delay our flight. Although I’d love to remain in Paris indefinitely…it is terribly expensive and yesterday’s little shopping spree didn’t fair too well on my bank account.