Paris Day 2

For some reason we woke up early enough to take advantage of the free buffet breakfast at the hotel. Mmm.. pain au chocolat, how did I ever survive breakfast without knowing you? Breakfast was quickly followed by an *attempt* to visit the Opera House. Due to my resistance to admitting that I have no idea where I am going, we ended up walking past the Opera House and reached our eventual destination of the day, the Louvre. My excuse is that we were going there later on in the day anyway. :P Since we were there, we decided to switch our schedule a little. The Louvre, my fellow readers, is huge. They are right when they say that you�d be insane to do the Louvre in a single day. Give me three full days and I might briefly cover all the artwork in the museum. Our main goals at the Louvre were to find Mona Lisa, and take a picture with the glass pyramids. It was not hard to find Mona Lisa - just follow the crowd and it will eventually lead you there. For such a famous painting, the security seemed a bit on the loose side. No security guards, and there were no visible security measures other than the glass case. We also looked at various pieces of artwork, and Evelyn couldn�t get enough of the crown jewels. I think girls simply have an affinity to shiny objects. ;) The gothic ceilings were also very astounding.

The rest of the day was spent roaming the city, visiting different museums and galleries. The Picasso Gallery stood out from my memory as being the more �interesting� one. I do not pretend to be an art critic, nor do I have any deep understanding of the art, but it was intriguing to see the transition on his style of expression from one period to another. Even without any formal art history background, I try to appreciate the artistic talent of these great artists. (I can only draw stick people, and sometimes I screw them up)

Before heading to dinner, we decided to visit the Eiffel Tower at night for a glimpse. Evelyn suddenly screamed and discovered �La Maison du Chocolat�. She didn�t end up buying anything. (�It was too expensive and not worth it�) The night view of the Eiffel Tower was breathtaking. The tower is a truly magnificent flagpole. (that�s pretty much what it is now) You know the feeling when you are looking at something that you have heard about, seen it in pictures and movies, and now standing right before you? It is difficult to explain the feeling of excitement and awe. Since the lineup to the top did not agree with our appetite for food, we left after snapping several photos and harassed by fifteen different people to buy miniature tower replicas.

For dinner we ate at a local restaurant not far from the tower itself. I should have known better that it was a tourist trap, but we were both tired and hungry. I had my first French Onion Soup (and now firmly believe I can never have another one elsewhere that would taste as good), and we both had steak. The steak had much to speak for itself, as it was dry and not exactly �French�. It was a very nice dinner environment, and we both enjoyed the time spent together.