Ground Control to Major Mom

22 July 22: We took a Bateaux Parisiens one hour guided Seine River cruise tonight, right at sunset. It was raining when the cruise started but it ended about 5 minutes into the trip. As it was a Friday night, the river was full of dinner cruises and party cruises…so much so that the kids started asking “Why didn’t WE book a dinner cruise?” Frankly, I didn’t think they’d enjoy such a thing. I guess I was wrong. We would have had to bring some dressier clothes.

22 July 22: Here are some of the many photos I took at the Louvre today. I think I was more in awe of the sheer size of the buildings and galleries and the stunning architecture than the art. Also, as is probably the case with many American visitors, I am having to process how OLD much of this is. I don’t mean the antiquities on exhibit…I mean the fact that the museum opened (as an art museum) in 1793.

Pro tip: Get the 9:00am — opening time — tickets to the Louvre. Any other time and getting close to the Mona Lisa will take a LONG TIME. It wasn’t bad at all if you get to the gallery with a sense of purpose upon entering the museum.

There was a bit more of a line if you wanted a family photo with it but we didn’t do that. So we were maybe about 15′ away. You can’t get closer than about 8′.

22 July 22: I’m at the mall attached to the Louvre, sipping a cappuccino, processing everything I got to see today. So many thoughts about the 6.5 hours Dave and I spent there (the boys left after about 4 hours). Here are a few:

21 July 22: Photos from the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Dave’s and my date night at the Moulin Rouge! ~20,000 steps for me!

Speaking of tomorrow: we will be at the Louvre right when they open! Dave and I cannot WAIT to see all that art…it’s been a while (the Frieda Kahlo exhibit in Denver?)

21 July 22: Today was a “Foodie Walking Tour of Paris“. Leo (short for Eleanor) took us through the Les Halles and Montorgueil sections of Paris, including the patisserie that invented the Baba ah Rhum and showing us one of the original restaurants that specialized in escargot.

20 July 22: We had a classic French dinner this evening at a corner bistro. The food was amazing (I had duck confit and a salad) and we shared a great bottle of wine. The waitstaff were sweethearts. The boys are loving getting to order beer and wine with dinner.

Tonight we relax and rest up for some sightseeing tomorrow.

20 July 22: After a 3 hour drive back to the airport to turn in the car…then a 40 min train ride…then a 15 min subway ride…then a discombobulated walk starting in the wrong direction thanks to Apple Maps not knowing the address of where we were going (Google Maps knew)…we have arrived at our top floor apartment in the 6th Arrondissement in Paris! We have a view of the Eiffel Tower and are walking distance from the Louvre. It’s a small place but WAY better than a hotel room.