Musée du Louvre, et al.

As expected, and predicted by Jim and Kristi, everyone was wide awake at 3am today. We all laid in bed but an 8 hour time difference takes a couple days to get adjusted to. 

We have a Boulanger (bread and pastry shop) just below our apartment.  We had baguette and croissant for breakfast.  Best croissants ever!  

We were off on our first full day outing today by 9:30. Our apartment is just 1/2 mile from the Basilica Sacre Coeur. We walked and took a self guided tour of the fairly new church (1880ish construction). 

We then purposefully took a slow 2 mile walk to the Louvre. It was great to see what Paris is really like on the side streets and in the non-touristy sections (bread and pastry shop every block, cheese shop every other block ... no joke). 

Upon arriving at the Louvre, after some outside pics, we decided to have lunch before going in. 

We found a little shop to have sandwiches and crepes. 

Of course, the Louvre is a three day tour if you want to see it all. We looked around a little and then found the mandatory sights, Venus de Milo and La Jocande (or the Mona Lisa as we call it). It really wasn’t as crowded as when a Kristi and I were here 12 years ago.  It was a good visit ... we did see a lot. 

Our poor sleep the night before had us all dragging. We caught the Metro for a quick ride back to our apartment where we all took a nap. 

Kristi and I then went shopping for dinner. Interestingly, the kids like when we cook and have dinner in ... saves us a ton of money. We made a beef stroganoff-like dish with white asparagus ... and of course eclairs from downstairs for dessert ... and wine!  Jim asked a lady at the grocery store for help picking wine. The French are really nice, especially if you’re asking about their wine, food, or correct French pronunciation. 

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. We could have rain which means we will save the Eiffel Tour for Sunday.