We managed to fritter away the entire weekend with friends.  It was great, but again has left me exhausted!  Not a good way to start what will be a busy week.  It’s balls to the wall from here until the New Year.

I wanted to do some more posting about France, but I have misplaced my travel journal.  I took it with me to Virginia, and now can’t find it!  We live in such a small apartment, but things always get sucked into some vortex.  Or my cat took the journal and it’s now in his litter box.  Sigh.

The excitement continues.

First up, the small town of Arromanches on the Gold Beach.  Also the home of Port Winston, or the makeshift temporary port that sprang up on and after D-Day.  The mulberries that made up the temporary port are definitely very visible to this day.  It is a huge contrast to see such an ugly metallic giant object on an otherwise beautiful beach.  But it really makes you realize what happened over sixty years ago.

Mulberry on Gold Beach

After a quick stop to overlook Juno Beach (mainly invaded by Canadians) we headed to Longues-sur-Mer, where four German bunkers and command center still overlook Omaha Beach.  Abandoned bunkers with guns rank right up there with spiders in my nightmare list.

Longues sur Mer

After the guns on Longues-sur-Mer, we continued to the American Cemetery.  We spent the bulk of our time here, as the museum was really well done and added a lot personality to the invasion.  The cemetery was spectacular and immaculate.  We had a perfect day and perfect weather, and W and I just couldn’t fathom what happen on June 6th.  It’s unreal.

American Cemetery at Omaha Beach

We walked down to Omaha Beach, which was covered with picnicing and swimming tourists.  At first, all those happy people upset me and seemed out of place.  So many men died at Omaha Beach and these people were essentially playing on a battlefield.  But after a few minutes, it made me happy that nice things could happen on that beach again.

After walking on Omaha Beach, we decided to be bad little Americans and go to the McDonalds in Insigny.  It was really well signed for thirty kilometers and we just needed a dang cheeseburger.  It was 2 pm, we were starving and didn’t feel like dealing with a sit-down cafe and the language barrier, okay?  Stop judging us!  Also McDonalds in France have free wireless internet access, and we hadn’t checked our email in days!  I’m sorry!

After McDonalds, we drove past Pointe-du-Hoc, which I now regret immensely.  Pointe-du-Hoc has holes the size of my apartment, and it really struck a chord with me back in ’98.  I should have trusted my gut and made us press on to the Pointe, but I guess now we have yet another thing to see next time!  Instead, we drove on to Mont-Saint-Michel, one of my favorite places in the whole wide world.  We arrived around 4 pm, and the environs were absolutely jammed with tourists.  There were tons of produits du terroir (local products) and so every five seconds W and I would scream “PRODUCTS OF TERROR!” which never gets old.

First Glimpse of Mont Saint Michel!

After checking into our crappy motel (Le Formule Verte) and dealing with the funky smell, we explored the area.  At one of the PRODUCTS OF TERROR shops, I bought some cute little bowls, post cards, caramels, and W and I sampled a degustation (tasting) of Calvados.  And we both remembered why we don’t drink whiskey.

For dinner, we had moules and frites for the third time.  We also had some oysters from Cancale in order to preview our next day when we would continue on to Cancale and the Pointe du Grouin.  Back at the hotel we decided to get some sleep since we were going to attempt to see Mont-Saint-Michel very early in the morning and beat the tourists.  Or at least try to beat the tourists!

W and I woke up at 6:30 am and finished packing.  For some reason we were concerned about finding chouquettes in the rest of France (we are stupid) so we had to make a final pit stop at our favorite neighborhood patisserie.  After saying goodbye to Big Sis and her boyfriend, we hopped on the metro, connected on the RER out to the CDG airport.  No, we weren’t getting on a plane just yet.  We were renting a car to drive around France for ten days!

Since I am a self-proclaimed “Cruise Director,” I booked our car rental reservation about three months in advance.  Not only did we get a great rate, but we were able to request an automatic car.  At least four people have tried to teach me manual shifting, and each time I fail miserably.  While W can drive a manual car, he can’t do it comfortably.  We decided that even though an automatic was more expensive, it would allow him to drive with less stress.  And believe me, he would be doing all of the driving.  I am known for many things, but skills behind the wheel of a car are not one of them.

And so, upon arriving at the National Car Rental kiosk, we were informed that they could not keep our reservation as they had no automatic cars.  Great.  Just effing great.  Our itinerary had been painstakingly done up (by me) with the use of a car, and could not be completed by train.  The unhelpful National Car Rental representative told us that since we had not paid in advance, they couldn’t guarantee an automatic.  I’m sorry, but that is stupid.  What is the point of RESERVING something with a RESERVATION if you are not going to MAKE IT AVAILABLE?  Plus, I didn’t have an option of paying up front!  Note to self…PAY IN ADVANCE.

Thank god, the wonderful folks at the next kiosk, Avis, had an automatic that was available for the entire length of time we needed.  Unfortunately, it cost us an additional 350 Euros.  That irritated the hell out of both of us, but we were lucky to even have an option of renting an automatic.  Bad things happen on vacation, and this would turn out to be the worst incident.

Our car turned out to be a cute little gray Fiat.  I like to think it looks like the offspring of a Mini and a Smart Car.  It turns out our exact model will be released in the United States in 2011.  It may just be my first new car post-college!  See below:

My Future Car!

W definitely thought it drove like a clown car and was a bit emasculating.  But isn’t it CUTE?

After loading the car, we set off from Paris in a light rain storm.  No problems so far, aside from the HORRIBLE PEOPLE AT NATIONAL CAR RENTAL.  NATIONAL CAR RENTAL IS BAD.

With the help of our fantastic Michelin atlas (aside: W didn’t like our atlas as it had too much detail, which is a dumb reason not to like an atlas) we drove to Caen.  My Iphone came in handy when it came time to find our hotel in the narrow streets.  We made it to the Hotel de la Fontaine with only a few directional challenges.  Our hotel room was almost like a private hostel room.  It was very bare bones, but we don’t need much.  The price was right…40 Euros!  It was the cheapest hotel room of the trip by a landslide!

Caen is located in Normandy in northwestern France, which is one of my favorite regions.  I don’t remember traveling to Caen in my previous France visits.  Since most of Caen was destroyed in WWII, it definitely doesn’t look like the rest of Normandy!  W and I walked around Caen for an hour and saw a great church, St. Pierre.  Across the street from St. Pierre was a fortress dating back to William the Conquerer.  My favorite thing about visiting Europe is randomly walking by things that are easily from the 10th century or earlier.  Americans have such a different concept of history and time.  In America, we walk by something from 1710 and are dumbfounded by its age.  Europeans must think things from the 1700s are positively young, and probably not worth looking at for several more centuries!

St. Pierre, Caen

But I digress.  The main reason we came to Caen in the first place was to visit the Caen Memorial Museum, which is dedicated to the conflict behind World War II and all that came from it.  And as advertised, the Memorial Museum was wonderful.  The city of Caen was almost demolished during the Battle of Normandy, so about thirty years the mayor of Caen started the Museum to explain what happened and why.  First, we watched an incredibly cool movie called Jour J (D-Day), which showed the Allies and Germans side-by-side as they prepared for the Invasion Day.  Then, the film continued on to the events of the Battle of Normandy.

The rest of the museum was extremely well done, but was so packed with people that it was hard to stay focused.  The exhibits continued on through the Cold War, and we ended up spending four hours there.  After all of the museums of Paris, we were exhausted.  Part of me wished that they could have just left it at 1945.

Caen Memorial - Non Violence

After the museum, we wandered the streets of Caen and found a nice creperie near the waterfront.  W quickly fell in love with galettes, especially those filled with ham, cheese, and eggs.  Yum.  We were sad that we had only an afternoon and evening in Caen, as it was a lovely little city.

After watching some BBC news on the only English channel, we went went to sleep.

The two of us woke up pretty early and walked up the many steps to the church by about 9:30.  It was a hazy morning in Paris, but we got an amazing view.

Steps up to Sacre Coeur

Sacre Coeur Close Up!

View from Sacre Coeur

After visiting the church, we walked around the neighborhood of Montmartre, which was quiet since we were visiting so early in the morning.  Many famous artists lived in this neighborhood, and swarms of people continue in the “artist” tradition by trying to get you to sit still for a quick sketch.  We walked through the streets down to the famous Moulin Rouge.  W knows that I hate that movie, so he immediately started singing every horrible song from that horrible movie.

After our visit to Montmartre, W and I went back to the apartment for an hour of rest and some cheap lunch.  The week of non-stop walking and museuming had finally caught up with us!  After recuperating, we decided to follow Rick Steves tour book and check out some of his shopping recommendations.  I know I have complained about Ricky in the past, but I need to remember his choices of activities and shopping are NOT what I have in mind.  This “shopping” area was all clothes clothes clothes.  Normally I would be fine with this, but clothes in Paris are insanely expensive even without the unfavorable exchange rate.  I wish Ricky could have pointed us in the direction of funky boutiques.  Not that it would have mattered, since it was August and over 2/3 of the stores were closed.

The one good thing about our “shopping” expedition was stumbling into the Le Bon Marché ,the famous department store.  We didn’t spend much time on the top floors.  Instead, we wandered into the basement which had a great bookstore, a really cool toy section, and the best stationary section I have yet to see in France.  For those of you who don’t know me well, I am obsessed with office supplies.  More specifically, European notebooks and pens.  At Le Bon Marché, I spent over an hour looking at the French office supplies.  In the end I exercise great self-control by not buying a single thing.  I still have French notebooks over a decade old that I have yet to fill with words, I definitely shouldn’t purchase anymore!  W was probably not happy about wasting an hour looking at French notebooks, but he was great and did not complain.

After our “shopping” was done, we walked over to the nearby church of Saint Sulpice.  It was my kind of church: dark, old, and creepy.  It was easy to see why Dan Brown featured it (briefly) in the Da Vinci Code.  The best was a framed note (in several languages) stating there is no Rose Line, etc.  We took a picture, inserted below.  Dan Brown may be the worst writer in the history of time, but that is another entry.

"Contrary to fanciful allegations in a recent bestselling novel" HAHHAHAHA

Finally, after another 20,o00 plus steps, W and I got on the metro and went back to the apartment.  My mother cooked a family favorite for dinner: pork chops with swiss cheese.  I can’t remember the proper name of it right now.  It was a lovely way to end the trip.  My parents gathered up their stuff for one last trek to the campground and we said goodbye.  We wouldn’t see them the next day as W and I were headed to pick up a rental car, and Big Sis and her boyfriend were headed to London via the Chunnel.

After some intense packing and doublechecking our wonderful flat, we all went to bed.  We would need our sleep for the next day!

The Louvre is just hard.  It is so big, so packed with amazing stuff, and so confusing that I can’t ever get a handle on it.  Even with a map of the museum, I was constantly backtracking, confused, or just plain lost.  Since there is so much to look at, I feel like I got desensitized to all of the amazing art and sculpture.  For our second (and final) Louvre day, W and I decided to see the major paintings, plus the Greek and Roman sculptures.  We saw the highlights:  Psyche and Cupid, the Venus de Milo, the Winged Victory, Ophelia, Liberty Leading the People, etc.  Those are all some of my personal favorites.  Some of them I recognized from my neglected postcard collection from a decade ago.

We were in the same room as La Jaconde, or the Mona Lisa, but we decided not to fight our way to the front of the crowd.  Criticize me all you want, but I have never understood the mystique behind that painting.  Leonardo da Vinci was a genius, but I can think of a hundred other paintings off of the top of my head that I would rather look at intently for five minutes.  But I’m not an art major, art history, or even a self-described art enthusiast.  I prefer history.

I only took one picture while at the Louvre.  I don’t believe in taking pictures of art.  It seems odd.  But I do love the Winged Victory, so I couldn’t resist snapping a shot.  Mainly, I love where it’s placed in the building.  It’s right in a landing on a huge staircase, and I just think it’s perfect.

Winged Victory at the Louvres

After about two and a half more hours of Louvre-ing it, W and I decided we had to get out of there.  And so off we went, again on an epic march.  We walked along the Tuileries and found an English bookstore.  Then at Place de la Concorde we turned up the Champs d’Lysée.  I was not impressed.  While it is a grand boulevard, it was mobbed and filled with cookie cutter shops that I could find in DC or New York City.  But then again, we were there in August which is high tourist season!

However, another Leon au Bruxelles was located here, so W and I grabbed a very late lunch of moules and frites (mussels and fries).  After a quick photo op with the Arc de Triomphe, I forced W onto the metro so we could rendezvous at the apartment with the family.

Arc de Triomphe

Big Sis and I wanted to have a traditional three course meal in Paris with the entire family.  She found a lovely little place called Tastevin on the Ile Saint Louis.  We were so bummed to have discovered Ile Saint Louis late in our Paris visit, as it was the exact type of neighborhood we had been searching for since the beginning of the trip.  It was full of cute boutiques and cafés.  Tastevin was absolutely adorable, and the food was traditional French.  I had snails, delicious veal, and a yellow plum tart for dessert.  The snails were by far the best we had in all of France, and believe me, I had several other opportunities to try them!

After dinner, my parents went back to their campground, but the young people decided to trek up to the Eiffel Tower.  None of us had visited the tower at night.  Since we only had one more day in Paris, we decided it was now or never!  Even at 11 pm the place was PACKED!  Big Sis and her boyfriend decided to go up to the top, but W and I just enjoyed it from below.  We walked down the Champs de Mars which offered fantastic views of the tower.  It also housed the creepiest monument I have ever seen, the Human Rights Monument.  It’s a little bit off the beaten path and lit very eerily at night.  Must be a sight more cheery during the day!

Eiffel Tower from below

Eiffel Tower Again!

Creepy Human Rights Monument

Sadly for me, this would not be the last time I attended a French language camp.  But that’s another story.

The reason I bring up la langue français is because I have recently started taking French lessons again.  Not at a college, not for credit, just for me.  I am attending the Alliance Française and almost starting over from scratch.  Why am I doing this?  Because my trip in France showed me just how much of the language I have forgotten since college, and I am NOT pleased about it.

During my August France trip (which I am currently and slowing blogging about here) at some point I realized that I could take French lessons.  Also, I realized that I could probably afford to do it these days since I am not a poorly paid congressional aide anymore.  Pretty much the day after we returned from France, I googled “Washington DC French Lessons” and bam, I found the Alliance.

While I thought about enrolling in a higher level class (I took seven years of French over high school and college, plus had two immersion summer programs) I decided to take a beginner review class instead.  The basic rules of French grammar were lost to me.  Sure, I could say “J’ai une réservation” but I wanted to say more.  I wanted to be able to answer a French person’s questions, and I didn’t want to have to say “Répétez, s’il vous plait.”

And so, I find myself attending classes twice a week.  Guess what?  I totally love it.  Turns out that I am actually really good at speaking French.  It turns out that I am great at picking up a foreign language.  I knew that back when I was in college, but I have forgotten that talent right along with forgetting the language itself.  Perhaps taking French classes will reinstate my former confidence as a smart, independent thinker.  I’m planning on continuing until I get pretty fluent, perhaps more fluent than I was in my earlier years.

I’ll keep you posted. À Bientôt!

Gates and Exterior of Entrance to Versailles!

Finally, Versailles day!  Versailles is always an overwhelming experience thanks to the crowds and surroundings.  We arrived around 9:30 am and waited for Mother and Daddy in the nicest McDonald’s I have ever laid eyes on!  Then, onto the Chateau itself.

The Crazy Snaking Line

In spite of our Paris Museum Passes, we waited in line for roughly an hour.  Bag checks slow everything down.  The Opera was still closed for remodeling, which was a bit of a bummer.  They had some lame art-filled side rooms opened up instead.

Hall of Mirrors

The rooms of State were as over the top as I remembered!  While I wanted to go to Versailles, I prefer the exterior to the interior.  The grounds were crazy awesome.  I especially loved the Orangerie and Grand Canal.  W and I skipped the Trianon and Marie Antoinette’s farm in favor of a half hour on the grass by the Grand Canal and fountain hunting.  During warmer months, the fountains of Versailles go off for an hour twice a day.  It is very, very worth it, as the grounds are transformed.  All of the fountains are in hedge mazes, so hunting them down can be quite a challenge!  Luckily, maps are provided.  The Neptune fountain was the grand finale, and I was very underwhelmed.  I remember the Neptune finale as amazing, but it has definitely lost its luster.  Perhaps I have the Bellagio to blame for that?

Versailles Orangerie

La Grand Perspective

Enceladus Fountain - My Favorite

Latone Fountain and Parterre

After Versailles, W took me on a “death march” as we are now calling it.  We got off the train Invalides and walked to St. Michel in the Latin Quarter.  Since I was starving and my feet were raw, we ate at the first place we saw, a cute pizza place with a fantastic view of Notre Dame!

After our meal, and some much needed wine, we got a second wind and decided to watch Notre Dame light up as the sun went down.  It was very beautiful, and very nice to sit down and know that Paris radiates out all around you.

Notre Dame at Sunset

Seine at Night

Once again, W convinced me to walk home.  It was another brutal 24,000 step day.

Last night, I made all of the pasty components, and only attempted to bake four actual chouquettes.  I wanted to wake up the next day and bake the rest of the pastries so they would be fresh for my office.  It was not to be.  About five minutes in to the actual baking process, all three of my smoke detectors started wailing.  Now, I live in a one-bedroom apartment so the need for three smoke alarms is beyond me, but they exist all within ten feet of each other.  Needless to say, I’m sure all of my neighbors hate me as this all happened at 10 pm on a weeknight.  Worst of all, Clibe is away on work business so I had to wave a towel around to get rid of the smoke all by myself.  At least I got an arm workout!

Since Clotilde’s recipe mentioned that you could chill the dough overnight, I decided to try and bake some chouquettes tonight. Tonight’s experiment was only half a failure.  After opening every door, window, and turning on every fan in the apartment, I heated the 0ven to 400 degrees and inserted the chouquettes.  Then, I stood three feet away from the oven and fanned a towel for almost the entire twenty minutes of baking.  Taking a lesson from Clibe, I covered all the smoke alarms with shower caps.  Don’t worry, I took the caps off once the baking was done.

Chouquettes! Some even have chocolate! Pre-collapse

The chouquettes didn’t turn out too badly, but of course, they collapsed right after I took this picture.  After a taste test, I have determined that they are similar to what I ate in France, but mine were just a little too eggy.  And a little bit burned.  I have to admit I chickened out halfway through baking and thought the oven was going to start smoking, so I turned it off.  Then I regained my courage and turned it back on.  I’m sure that affected the finish product!  What can I say, I’m wishy washy.

The chouquettes with chocolate chips were especially nice, but I learned that I need to bury the chips into the dough or they will pop off onto the baking sheet!

So again, the oven has won the first round of chouquettes, and technically also the second round since I was too scared of fire to bake the dang things properly.

At least I proved I have dedication to the art of baking.  Do you know anyone else who would fan pastry with a towel for twenty minutes?

Because of this new walking commitment, Clibe and I decided to walk part way to the Musee D’Orsay, today’s first destination. We metroed to St. Michel, in the Latin Quarter and walked over to the musem.

Musee D'Orsay Interior

We met up with the Parents, Big Sis, and J and then immediately split up again to tour the museum at our own pace.  The museum was fine, and I got to see my favorites, the Van Gogh Bedroom painting, and Monet’s Houses of Parliament.  I also discovered that I really enjoy Sisley.

After Clibe and I finished the museum, we again split off from the group to go see Les Invalides, a former military hospital that now houses the War Museum.  About fifteen minutes away from the Musee D’Orsay, I realized I was missing our beautiful, gorgeous, wonderful, expensive Panasonic Lumix Camera of Awesomeness.  My heart stopped and I almost threw up.  We raced back to the museum, where I suddenly could speak French VERY WELL, or well enough to get my camera back from the Lost and Found.  Kind soul who returned my camera, I love you.  I am trying to pay it forward all the time now.  If I had really lost my camera, it would have really hurt the rest of the trip.

You can bet I knew where my camera was for the rest of the trip.  It was either on my arm or zipped up in my purse.  God I love that camera.

Les Invalides

After we calmed down, we grabbed a nice little lunch of croque monsiers near the National Assembly, and continued to walk the rest of the way to Les Invalies.  In addition to the War/Military History Museum, Les Invalies also holds Napoleon’s Tomb.

We did the WWI and WWII sections, and they were definitely a highlight of the trip.  I practically majored in military history in college, and Clibe is fascinated with war history as well.  I think we both get it from our dads.  We ran out of tim and couldn’t do the Napoleonic military history section, which was unfortunate since I don’t remember much about his conquests.  However, as Clibe said, we have to leave something for the next Paris visit!

After a quick viewing of Napoleon’s tomb, we walked home as fast as we could so we could make dinner with the group.  We ran out of time and had to jump on the metro, but I think we ended up with 24,000 steps that day…or about 10 miles.  Clibe and I decided to keep a list of all of our steps for the entire trip.  Don’t worry, I’ll post it at the end of the journey.  I’m sure people are on the edge of their seats!

Les Invalides - Napoleon's Tomb

For dinner, the group went to Leon aux Bruxelles, a Brussels moules and frites (mussels and fries) chain with nine locations all over Paris.  Daddy and I stumbled upon the chain our last Paris visit back in 1998.  Big Sis managed to acquire two awesome Eau de Paris carafes.

Eau de Paris Carafes

She let me keep one, too.  It’s  quite awesome, and I hope it makes it home intact.

While today could have been a horrible disaster, it turned out to be a great day.  Leave it to war to make me forget almost losing an expensive gadget!

Aside on Rick Steves.  My family has used his books in Europe as far back as I can remember, which means 1989.  Ricky Stevey, as my Dad has taken to calling him, is usually pretty good at showing you the important things in a city.  Yes, he can be hokey and annoying, but these city walks are great.  Next time I go to Europe, I want to take the Rick Steves guide, and then something geared towards a more veteran traveler of Europe. Ricky is great for a first timer (or senior citizen) traveler, but not enough for someone like me!

Aside over…sorry.  After commuting down to Notre Dame

Notre Dame in the morning

via the fabulous Paris Metro (DC, take note, Paris kicks your ass), we met up with the Parents and stood in line for the Notre Dame Tower Tour.  Four of us waited in line which was very slow.  After about an hour, we decided to ditch out.  422 steps would have been a difficult way to start the day.

The inside of Notre Dame was as grand as always.  However, I am a fan of the outside of churches more so than the inside.  The stained glass is always so pretty though!

After Notre Dame, we continued down into the Paris Crypt.  While poor smelling, I really enjoyed it.  Again, since I am reading about the history of Paris, it was really cool to see it all in stone and foundation.  The Paris Crypt showed foundations and parts of structures that went back to Roman times and very early periods of Christianity.  Very cool.

After the crypt, we continued on with Ricky’s walk.  We saw the Deportation Memorial for those who were deported to concentration camps in World War Two.  It was incredibly well done.  World War Two is not so easily forgotten in France.

Place St Michel - Latin Quarter

After that, we saw several more churches, and then wandered into the Latin Quarter.  Clibe and I quickly decided the Latin Quarter was our new favorite section of Paris.  We all ate lunch at a little place called Le Pre Verre.  That was my first introduction into the formule, or set lunch (and dinner sometimes) course.  Formules are very popular in France, at least in the more touristy sections we visited.  Basically, there is an entree (appetizer) a plat (main course) and a dessert for a fixed price.  In my mind, that is restaurant week!  Le Pre Verre was great, and they even included a glass of red with their formule.  The chilled beet soup was beautiful, but not my cup of tea after about two slurps.

We continued our walk, briefly stopping at the paperie (stationary) section of Gilbert Jeune, a huge bookstore.  Big Sister and I are suckers for European paper products.  Clare Fontaine, anyone?  Though I just realized that the parent company of Clare Fontaine is in New York.  Then why in the hell is it hard for me to find Clare Fontaine in the US?  Staples, you need to carry this stuff!!

Saint Chapelle

Sorry again, back to the walk.  On to Saint Chapelle.  Whoever built a building next to Saint Chapelle should be exhumed and beaten.  It is pure stained glass on three sides, and when the light hits the sides that are open to the sun, it’s beautiful.  Over two-thirds of the glass is original, which is insane considering it was built during the reign of King Saint Louis (r. 1226-1270) and was used to store grain during the French Revolution.

After Saint Chapelle, we headed back to the flat on the metro.  We had dinner in the apartment, which was an assortment of cheeses, breads, and meats, plus a nice salad cooked by Big Sis and J.  After dinner, the whole group tried grab a pastry at a locally recommended shop, but it was closed for August.  Pretty much everything in Paris is closed for August.  While everyone else went home, Clibe and I decided to go on a walk.

Sunset over the Seine, Paris

We ended up down by the Seine on the Right Bank, catching the tail end of the Paris Plage.  The Plage is where part of the riverbank is turned into a sort of beach, complete with a boardwalk, sand, and plenty of picnic space.  It was very cute, and made me wish that more US cities would start this kind of thing.  Also, it was amazing to see alcohol out in public spaces.  No one was abusing it, people were just having a nice bottle of wine with their picnics.  The French have some a great attitude towards alcohol, and I really wish America would catch up!

Clibe and I walked all the way down to the point where the Musee D’Orsay was across the river.  Um, let me tell you, that’s far.  Then we walked all the back alongside the Louvre.  It was such a great walk, complete with beautiful weather and a perfect sunset over the Seine.  A great end to a perfect day of sightseeing in Paris.