Monday, May 14, 2012

Our day started out on a different note this a.m.  Amy has been sick since the middle of the night.  So, we opted to let her rest for a while longer in hope that she will feel better later in the morning and we can do our sightseeing this afternoon, which meant rescheduling some of our plans.  Sam liked that idea and went right back to sleep for a couple of hours.  Scott and I were already up and dressed so we walked down to the little corner bakery and bought a couple of pastries and a bottle of orange juice, then went next door to the Starbucks where he got his coffee.   We ate breakfast in the Starbucks.  Then we both went back to our hotel rooms where we just rested for awhile.  Scott did run across the street to the local pharmacy to get some medication for Amy.   Here the pharmacies are like others in many countries where the pharmacist can prescribe and treat so he came back with three different things for her to help her stomach be less upset.  About 11:30 he knocked on the door to say she felt better and was getting ready to go out.  Finally about 12:15 she came out.  We went downstairs to leave but decided to walk across to the two story McDonalds on one of the other corners to get her a Sprite.  Since it was lunch time we decided to eat there also….even though we said we were not going to eat at an “American” fast food place.  But, they had a McBaguette….two small beef patties on a baguette with lettuce, cheese, and a dijon/mayonnaise dressing.  Interesting.  Sam liked it but I wasn’t fond of the taste of the dressing.  I thought it had either a blue cheese or horseradish taste.  By the time we were finished Amy was feeling bad again so we went back to the hotel.  Poor Amy.  After taking some more medication she decided to go ahead and join us on our visit to the Louvre Museum.  We were finally on our way.  Arriving at the Louvre by subway we entered into a very modern underground shopping center with very high-end shops.  Then walked through security passing more shops and finally entered into the main entrance which is a huge atrium directly under I.M. Pei’s glass pyramid.   We picked up a map which gave us just a brief idea of where we wanted to go first.  Heading up the escalator first to the area of statues and paintings we walked down a couple of long halls and up several different flights of steps to suddenly see “Winged Victory” at the top of a long flight of stairs.  It was quite impressive.  After taking pictures we went up a couple more steps and around corners to a long, long hallway lined with paintings.  Off this hallway were different rooms with more paintings.  Following the signs we found a room crowded with people all trying to take pictures of the Mona Lisa.  Of course, we crowded in with them, inching our way to the rope to get as close as possible.  We did try to take some other pictures of the paintings while there.  It was quite warm there with all the masses and masses of people everywhere and Amy didn’t feel very good.  So we didn’t spend much time in this area.  We then went down a floor to the Greek and Roman sculptures where we saw Venus de Milo……and many other nude and semi-nude sculptures.  Seems like everybody wanted to either paint or sculpt the human body.  By this time Amy was feeling pretty bad again so she and Scott made their way out of the building to go sit in the park --- the Jardin des Tulleries, which is adjacent to the Louvre, while Sam & I went to see the Egyptian antiquities.  We just looked at the Sphinx but decided not to see the rest since it involved climbing a  long flight of stairs…and we were tired.  I sure could have enjoyed just wandering about the Louvre for hours and days just looking at everything in detail………..but I would like to have lots less people around.  It was just unbearably crowded.

Leaving the Louvre through the glass pyramid we walked over to the gardens where we found Amy and Scott sitting in some chairs in the shade just people watching.  Amy said she felt much better…and she looked like she did.  Sam & I also sat down for awhile and joined them in people watching and talking.  We probably sat there about an hour before deciding to walk through the rest of the park (about the size of two football fields) to the Place de la Concorde.  There is an towering 3300 year old Luxor Obelisk there which was a gift from Egypt in 1829 in the center of this area.  It is also the area where Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded in 1792.  I believe it is considered the center of the city of Paris.  The park was also very full….people really enjoy their parks here.  And, of course, no walk in the park is complete without a little gelato or sorbet.  Amy finally had a little cup of sorbet without feeling ill.  We were planning to catch the double decker tour bus here but decided instead to hire motorized tuk-tuks to take us from this site down the Champs de Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe.   Amy & Scott were in one and Sam & I in another.  Fun!

 

We arrived at the Arc about 6:30 p.m. just at the end of the daily rekindling of the Flame over the tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  There was quite a large group of military and other dignitaries there plus a TV camera.  I think it might have been more involved on this day because tomorrow is the day for the inauguration of the new president of France who will be transported down the Champs de Elysees in a motorcade.  Scott wants to see this but we have other plans for our last day in Paris.  We were all going to go to the top of the Arc but the elevator (or lift) was not working.  Scott and I decided to walk up the steps instead.  Stupid!  Nearly 300 steps to the top!  Again in a circular pattern!!!  Wow, I am really going to have calves of steel when I leave here!

Leaving the Arc around 8 p.m. we headed back to our hotel on the subway.  We stopped at the bakery to get Amy a dry croissant and went into the hotel for her to rest and go to bed early.  Scott, Sam and I walked to a little pizza restaurant around the corner from the hotel where I got Tortellini with chicken and ham (shaped like ravioli), Sam had Veal Bolognese topped with ham and cheese, and Scott had a seafood pizza with calamari, mussels and yucky other seafood stuff!  He loved it!  Then back to the hotel for bed.  A very full but not rushed day.