First Day in Paris

We had an easy flight to Paris, departing from Calgary on Thursday at 1:00 PM. Allan was able to drop us off at the airport and so we didn't have the hassles with parking the car, etc and check in went smoothly. Senor Ping noticed one of our fellow passengers was checking in with an Ovation guitar and when we discovered our flight was going to be a bit late departing and that certain passenger with the previously mentioned guitar was seated across from us he had time to talk to that passenger and found they shared a love for guitars and rock and roll!!! At least I didn't have to worry about him wondering off to play pinball and not hearing the boarding call like the last time we were departing from Calgary airport!!!!

Our stop over in Toronto was short and soon we were on our way to Paris....a few movies and a cat nap later we had landed. We checked in at our hotel and then headed for the Musee du Louvre. The Louvre is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris and although we strolled the grounds on our last trip we had chosen to visit the Musee d'Orsay instead. There is no possible way anyone can hope to see the entire collection of paintings, sculptures and other artifacts at the Louvre so we concentrated on a few of the things we wanted to see and then sat outside by the fountains and did some people watching. (And although I thought I was quite observant and noticed a mother and her two teenage daughters posing for photos and leaving their belongings beside us while they walked closer to the pyramid, I completely missed 2 of them changing their clothes right in front of us. They changed from dresses and mini skirts with sparkly tops to jeans and sweat pants and t-shirts without leaving the bench beside us!!!)



After we took some time to reenergize we did a walking tour of some of the covered passage ways built at the end of the 18th century, so the ladies could escape the muddy roads and enjoy a new phenomena: window shopping displays. Walking through the passages is a great way to get away from the heavy traffic and street noise, as well as check out some of the cute little sidewalk cafes and shops.



We passed by the original building of the Folies Bergere on our way to a little cafe for dinner. Many people were sitting at outdoor cafes as we headed back to the hotel to catch up on our email and some much needed sleep. As I am writing this I have the window open on our 3rd floor room and I am listening to the fountain outside and the conversations of the Parisian families who have come to sit and enjoy the beautiful August evening.