Thursday

Today we got up in no hurry. The sun was out but rain was forecasted later in the afternoon. We took the 4 to Chatalet, switched to the 1 en route to the Louvre.

Our game plan for exploring the Louvre was to split up. Cari by herself, and Pop and Grandma on their own. We would meet back at the Louvre cafe for lunch.

The Louvre was built in the 12th century as a fortress, became a royal palace, chateau, and royal apartments before becoming a museum after the French revolution in the 18th century. Pop and I were marveling how these places - the buildings and outside grounds - can accomodate so many p
eople. It's very crowded, more so in some halls and rooms than others, and there are bottlenecks in some places, but overall you're moving pretty well. I've been traversing with a stroller, Sam getting on and off frequently, but it hasn't been terrible.

We started through the Greek Antiquities to Roman to French and Renaissance, and finally, since Sam has been asking all day, to Egyptian, to see mummys. Some shots in no particualar order:

The crowds for the Mona Lisa.

I wanted to see Dutch but we never made it. Next time.

Its easy to lose your way in the Louvre. We should have used the DS navigation. They just started using Nintendo DS this month. They are used as an audio and video guide. They let you know where you're at and how to reach certain areas. It's easy to lose your way because you're going up and down, down, up, half floors and full floors, I didn't know what level I was on most of the time. There is a vast network of halls, and wings and rooms. It wouldn't hurt to put in signage to match the guide.

We found the cafe, ate lunch, and made plans for the rest of the afternoon. We walked through the gardens of the Louvre to Musee De l'Orangerie.

The boys found a grove in the garden with trails through the shrubs. They dubbed it The Maze. I let them run around as the rest of the group continued on. I think its good for them to get some free running and screaming out of their system and it gives the other adults a break. We caught up with the others at Le'Orangerie, walked around Monet's water lillies without doing it any justice and then split up again. Cari went back to the flat, Pop and Grandma took off on foot, and we caught the train to Denfort-Reachereau station to see the Catacombs. Unfortunately, they closed in 15 minutes at 4pm and the line was twenty minutes out so they turned us away.
However, not all was lost. We went back to the Louvre and out to the garden, as Sam was crying to go back to The Maze. The sun was out and Sari and I were down to our t-shirt and polo. We had removed hats, scarfs, and jackets. It was glorious sitting in the park, in the sun, in Paris, at the Louvre.
Sari read Luke's journal aloud while the boys were playing around the Maze. We were both impressed and laughed out loud a few times. We're glad he's sticking with it.
A nice Parisian lady let the boys have fun with her French bulldog Enzo. He was a happy, frisky guy that would crawl commando style with his back legs out flat. They were running all over. Luke was sneaking up commando style on some Ravens. Jake was chasing Sam and sacking him or slide tripping him - a bit rough - but it was on nice soft grass. Sam was bringing us bottle tops, corks, and snail shells (Luke had found them earlier). I still have a cold, and scratchy throat but it was on the mend.