Paris - Day Six

Whoops, I'm a day  behind, and now it's hard to catch up!  Thursday, we left the hotel early, and went to the Louvre.  The Metro conveniently lets you off right inside, so we bought our tickets and then tried to figure out where everything was.  I'd only been once before, in 2005, and the map wasn't much help, so we just wandered around with our mouths open.  The good news is that everyone else was doing that, too.

 This is as close as I could get to the Mona Lisa.  I was in the front row of a pressing crowd, and it felt like I was at a Rolling Stones concert.  Enough already!  I'm too old for that!

 This was actually one of my favorite paintings.

 These two girls were seriously sketching!

 Krista said, "How did Lauren, Tracy and I get here?"  Hmmmm....they should've put their clothes on!

 This one's for my friend, Holly, as I believe the dog to be an Italian Greyhound ancestor!

I think the man in this painting favors Neil Young.  Don't y'all, too?

Maybe this was me in a prior life, although I think I could've looked a bit happier to own that cute little pup.

 People were also practicing their painting.  I wish I could paint like that!

Some of the French Crown jewels are at the Louvre, such as these tiaras and brooch.

Krista wanted to see Napoleon's apartment, so off we went.  I thought it was a little over the top, but Krista says it was beautiful...

The Louvre itself is so impressive.  Despite all the masterpieces that are housed there, I was in awe of the actual buildings.

We left mid-afternoon, stopping at their really phenomenal gift shops on the way out.  We'd allotted a few hours to check out some kitchen stores, but first went straight to a cafe and had lunch outside in the sunshine.  Afterwards, we found a jewelry shop, Metal Pointus, that I'd wanted to visit.  Their work was very different...way cool!  I treated myself to a pair of earrings, a bracelet and a ring.

The kitchen stores were both fantastic.  Nancy, you would've loved them.  La Bovida has been around forever, and they have just about everything you'd ever need. They're only several blocks from Dehillerin, and the people are nicer (not to mention that everything is priced).  Professional chefs shop here, but they also sell to the public.

It was fun to explore a new neighborhood!

We eventually ran out of steam, and had to return to our hotel.  After a break, we dressed for dinner and walked to Boulevard Montparnasse for the best dinner we've had since we arrived.  We ate at Chez Clements, where the service and the food were perfect.  Krista helped me back to the hotel afterwards...I'm such a lightweight...one glass of champagne and half a half bottle of wine, and it was lights out for me.