On Friday we first visited the Arc De Triomphe (aka Arch). Laura, the kids, and Audrey & Richard all took the tour up inside it. I elected to wait with Earl & Delma. Luckily the weather improved and they were able to see more of the city from up there. Even the Eifel Tower was visible. Too bad we didn't take that tour the second day instead! Oh well. The Arc is in the middle of a huge roundabout. You have to walk through a tunnel to get to the center where it is located. There are 10 streets that converge on that circle. Crazy, crazy traffic as you'd imagine.
We were a day wiser on getting around the city and utilizing the transportation options available. Sites are spaced out sufficiently far that you really wouldn't want to walk to all of them. Since the Seine river runs through the city and there are tour boats which are quite handy. We bought a 2 day pass so we could get on/off at any stop and that really paid off. We found a sandwich place (I won't say the name other than it has something to do with underground transportation), and ate on the tour boat while warming up! Good idea Laura! We walked to where the United States Embassy is located, which is near the Place de la Concorde (historic square). After visiting that we then took the boat to the Louvre. We found a side entrance that wasn't supposed to be open on Friday, and after waiting in much shorter lines than at the main entrance we made it into the museum. About 2 and half hours later and dead-tired we exited. Too much to see in one day. We focused on just a few areas and saw many of the most famous paintings and sculptures in the world! I was surprised how close you could stand next to the exhibits. The Mona Lisa was the most popular and the one which we were unable to get really close to -- but Ryan was let in with some other kids to get up closer to take some pictures. So, his pictures are the only clear ones we have. With the safety glass in front and all the people taking pictures with flashes, etc. our cameras were unable to focus clearly so they all came out blurry. I'll include some pictures over the few days. There is more to tell about it and I'll endeavor to add more detail here when I can.
