Paris, troisieme jour

Today was our last full day in Paris, so we hit the Louvre hard--Mona Lisa, check; Venus de Milo, check; Winged Victory, check. We were complete Philistines focused only on the museum's greatest hits. With three kids, and one of them not yet 7, we had to be realistic, so we limited things. Still, what an experience to be in that gorgeous former palace surrounded by exquisite paintings and sculpture. The beauty was all rather heart-breaking, but we found time to be silly as you can see from the photos.




After the Louvre, we walked through the Tuileries, discovering some wonderful play areas including a trampoline playground, and wound up a La Place de la Concorde, a spot with some baaaad karma. That was where the revolutionaries tore down the statue of Louis XVI and replaced it with the guillotine. In a single month, they beheaded something like 1,300 royals and aristocrats. Later during the German occupation of the city, the Nazis used the plaza's buildings as headquarters. Shivers. Concord over discord--they chose the name well.


From there we took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and strolled over to Philip's former stomping grounds. His old apartment still looks lovely. We returned to the hotel for a much-needed rest. By dinnertime, we rallied and went to Montmartre for dinner and a final long look at the City of Light.


Clare and I had an adventure returning to the hotel--I told the taxi driver "Rue des Pyramides" but he heard "Rue des Pyrenees" (and I thought my French was improving). We ended up in a very dodgy neighborhood with graffiti and abandoned buildings. We set things straight and eventually made it back to the hotel, 30 Euro later. The driver couldn't have been nicer or more apologetic. It was ma faute!