Last day in Paris

Yesterday, we left in the midmorning for Paris. Thankfully, Delphine accompanied us and was willing to drive because once in Paris we saw The Mother of All Round-Abouts near the Arc de Triomphe. With cars, scooters, and bicycles moving in all directions and no marked lanes, it certainly seemed like a disaster waiting to happen. However, upon closer inspection, there appear to be some unwritten rules and we realized that people generally are willing to let you merge as long as you keep moving. It all seems to works. However, we still wouldn't want to be behind the wheel.

We rented bikes and Delphine led us on a tour of the city. We rode along the Seine, saw the Notre Dame, the Pantheon, and a miniature version of our Lady Liberty among other fabulous sites. We were sad to say goodbye to her in the afternoon.

This morning we headed out early to do some Museums. We started with the Louvre and, thanks to our planning, arrived before opening and were the 12th and 13th visitors in line. Once the doors were opened, we raced the other visitors like a bunch of kids on an Easter egg hunt to find the Mona Lisa. We stood for our 10 second photo op and headed onward. We then completed the "Louvre Light" tour by Dan Brown (author of the DaVinci Code). By its name you can probably tell that this is the tour for people who are crunched for time.

After the Louvre, we made our way to the Tour Eiffel where we took some great photos while at the same time trying to avoid the gypsies and the displays of plastic Eiffel Tower keychains and statues for sale on sheets it the middle of the walkway.

Next, we opted to walk north to the Arc de Triomphe rather than take the Metro. We were glad we did because we happened upon a farmers market which was just delightful. It gave us an opportunity to be one with the locals. The Arc De Triomphe was fabulous, though we had to climb nearly 200 hundred steps up a spiral staircase to reach the top. For accomplishing this feat we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the entire city of Paris.

We are now back in our room resting before heading out again to do a boat tour on the Seine and visit the Jardin des Tuileries.

We leave tomorrow for Espana!