A Look at the Louvre! :D

Today was our trip to the Louvre.  I strapped on my new  HIGH TOPS

(which Jess and Rex picked out for me last night on their trip)  and we headed out the door....

we hopped onto the big red bus

and headed to the stop for the Louvre.  We hopped out and marvelled at the immense size of this museum.  It's one of the largest museums in the world and I don't doubt it for one moment.  WOW this place is huge! ;D

A map of the museum posted outside the building.  Honestly it's just immense.  I had NO IDEA how big it was!

Millie was amazed too!! :D 

You first walk through these huge arches into an enormous square....

Once inside the square you see the famous glass pyramid...!

You have to go through a security checkpoint to enter the pyramid then it's down a series of escalators into the museum!  Awesome!!

I love this pic of Jack walking up the stairs...!!  His sweater makes him seem almost invisible...!!

We walked and walked and walked and gazed and gasped and gawped at all  a few of the many, many, many exhibits in the museum!  We stopped for a lunch break, I stopped and nursed Millie, there were sculptures, statues, painting that were SOOOO big they were staggering....  oh and of course, there was this......

Oh Look....!!  Who is that enigmatic figure in the background?!?!  LOL!

Meh, says Millie! :D The Mona Lisa is surprisingly very small...!!  But so very neat to see in person! :D

In the "basement" of the museum is all manner of fabulous high end shops and also Starbucks and the Apple store where I took advantage of their Wifi to check in on Facebook!!

We picked up a couple of souvenirs and then headed out to walk along the Seine.  We came back upon the bridge covered in padlocks that we had seen yesterday.  Here people buy or bring padlocks and write their names on it.  The padlocks are fastened to the bridge and then traditionally the keys are tossed into the Seine thereby securing the love or some such thing!!  

Well, being the romantics that we are, naturally we bought a lock too.......!!!

But, being the kind of person I am, I could NOT bring myself to toss the keys into the river!!  The idea of thousands of keys in the water just didn't sit well with me!!! So, I gave them to Rex for safe keeping! ;D 

Pretending to throw the keys......

Millie promised not to tell !!

 And that was our day at the Louvre!!  We had also gone back to the Eiffel tower today but it was still SOOOO cold and the line was so long we basically decided that we weren't the kind of people with the burning desire to climb things so we spent our time in the museum instead!! :D

Tomorrow we leave Paris and head back to England....! :D

Day Two.... part two ! :D

OK....!  So to recap yesterday we got up, had breakfast (yum yum) went to the PHARMACEEEE, had a run in with a French lady or two, went to the Eiffel Tower and then on an awesome bus tour..... and THEN we decided we'd like to get some lunch!! :D

Now, if you know me AT ALL by now, you'd know that this GIGANTIC jar of Nutella seemed like a perfectly adequate lunch to me, but it was poo poo'ed by Rex as having little nutritional value...!!

 Millie was getting so hungry she was literally eating the map!!

We hopped back off the bus at the Eiffel Tower again and staggered off to find sustenance!  

A view of the tower down one of the side streets...! 

We found this little cafe and stopped in for something delicious..! ;D  We had vegetable soup, hot tea, hot chocolate and lots of bread!  Oh... and fries!  Only, you know, they don't call them "French fries" here, they just call them "Fries" !!  LOL!!

Hubby was taking a bunch of pics and we were all getting a liiiittle punchy from a) tired feet (mine!) and b) starvation... (all of us!)

Millie wasn't punchy though... she was just awesome!  Besides, she was all filled up on map! :D 

          

So then, after a delicious lunch we headed back the few blocks to the hotel for a regrouping! :D 

My feet were just aching from all the walking around the airports, then walking around Paris.... ( LOL!!  Hear me whine!?!? "My FEET hurt from walking around PARIS...."  LOL!!!)  But I was annoyed really as my boots I had been wearing were always very comfortable in the past and I NEEDED them to not make my feet hurt.... I had lots more walking to do!!  However, Rex suggested that Jack, Millie and I should rest up at the hotel in our suite whilst he and Jessie would go and explore the Metro!!  Sounded OK to me.  I was bummed to miss out on more exploring but Millie and Jack were pretty pooped out and yes, my feet were killing me.  

Rex and Jessie headed out and the kids and I watched them from our window!  We spotted them on the street below and rapidly ran the orange window blinds up and down to catch their eyes!  Sure enough, they saw us and waved madly!!  We watched them until they had gone out of sight then we all settled down into our respective corners for a while.  The hotel had provided a pack and play type thing for Millie to sleep in but she was also happy to sit and play in it for a while with some of her toys.  Jack set out all his toys on the windowsill and played happily for hours that way.... 

Me?  ....   I made use of the hotel spa to soak my feet..........

LOL!!  I emptied out the bathroom trash can, filled it with VERY HOT soapy water and sat on the couch soaking my feet!  You might laugh but it felt SOOO GOOD!!! :D 

Jess and hubby were gone for a few hours during which time the kids and I played together, we sampled the French cartoons, napped a little and generally just relaxed.  When they came home they brought some delicious Korean food from a restaurant opposite the hotel  ( I know, Korean food?  In FRANCE?!  That's how we roll, and it was SOOO good!!)  

Here are some pics from their evening ....

My beautiful teenager! :D

Le Metro!

These guys were in a gigantic store that Jess and Hubby stopped into.    I have no idea why there were people wandering around on stilts, but there ya have it! ;D 

Jessie and Rex picked out a little something for me whilst they were out.....  Can you Guess what it is??

Find out tomorrow......!!  Stay tuned!! :D  à bientôt  ;D