From Paris to Amsterdam Day Four

We woke to the promise of rain today.  Today is our last full day in Paris.  Troy made superb scrambled eggs and we ate delicious yogurt purchased from the grocer a few doors down and nibbled on bread and pastries leftover from yesterday's delightful spread.  Don't forget the freshly squeezed orange juice!

Metro hallway

Before we even set foot in Paris we knew we would be walking a lot.  Annie mentions the need for comfortable shoes in her podcasts too.  So, our shoes were packed with walking and comfort in mind and still, our feet were tired by day four.  Who am I kidding, my feet were tired on day one.  Very thankful for the Metro.  Today's destination was the Arc de Triomphe and then Louvre Museum in the afternoon.  When we walked up the metro stairs, we were met with this view.

Paris.

Le Tour Eiffel

This man!  Love him.

It was windy and the sky was moody.

After a few dozen more photos of the Eiffel Tower, with our hair blowing every which way; well, not Troy's hair...!  I mean really, who needs all those photos of the Eiffel Tower?  We do!  Onward we walked to the Arc de Triomphe.  Our map says it's only 1.5 miles down the road to the Arc de Triomphe.  Piece of cake, or gateau.  

Beautiful light rain with a golden glow.  The picture doesn't do it justice.

Oh the history here.

We walked and talked and stopped at Starbucks.  I know, Starbucks!  They do coffee well, especially in a coffee challenged city like Paris.  Yum!  We waited out a heavier rain under the cover of a Starbucks umbrella.

Fun fact: Connie enjoys good coffee.  Anytime, anywhere.  Isn't she cute!

Many roads lead to the Arc de Triomphe

Shall we Frogger our way over there?

Thanks to Trevor, we didn't have to Frogger.  We just had to find the tunnel.

So grand.

Look at the size!  That's us standing at the bottom.  Amazing!

Did you know the Unknown Soldier was buried at the base of the arch in 1921. The flame of remembrance is rekindled every day at 18:30.

I'm smiling now....

To get to the top of the Arc, this is the way we must go.

Still climbing!

Those benches are there to catch you when your legs turn to jelly after all. the. stairs.

But so worth it!

A birds eye view.

Look at that view!  And the sky.

Oh my, here we go again.  So much easier going down.

See Connie over there.  She is breathing a sigh of relief.  

This photo was taken just seconds after she was almost run over!  

She had to do a fast hop/skip to avoid the traffic.  They wait for no one.

A steady light ran began to fall while we made our way to the Louvre.

A crepe stand.

Eating crepes in Paris was kinda a bucket list item and we were not disappointed.  There were sweet and savory crepes to choose from.  Connie and Troy shared a strawberry jam crepe and Patrick shared an apricot and Grand Marnier crepe with me.  So fun that it was a stand in a beautiful setting along the avenue des Champs-Élysées.

Walking through Tuileries Garden again.

Feeding the birds.

I've read enough historical fiction to envision all the people gathering here to see and be seen.

  

The Louvre

No lines to get in!

The Louvre is so very grand. 

Mona Lisa

The lines, waiting for a chance to get close to the Mona Lisa.

Who used the first emoji's?

Now we know.

Grand sphinx

We closed the Louvre today.  Pretty impressive for us middle-agers.

Christmas present?

Anytime present?

Art enhancing our wait for the train.

Made with little tiny beads.

The Louvre museum is gigantic and amazing.  So many greats housed under one amazing roof.  Before we walked in the door we all had our item or two that we knew we wanted to see and we went right to those items.  Even though it was a bit disjointed and we walked through the same exhibit a few times, picking our favorites and finding them first allowed us to see them instead of stumble upon them.

For dinner we planned to eat at our local Brassiere.  Why do I not have a photo of the place??  We walked by that restaurant almost every day to and from our destinations.  It was a good restaurant to end our days in Paris.  I had pasta in basil creme sauce for dinner.  It was so so.  What was fun was our dessert.  Connie and I ordered cafe gourmand.  I only knew what it was because Annie mentioned it in one of her podcasts.  It is an espresso served with a selection of desserts.  We need this in the United States!  

A note about dining in France.  If you need a large area of personal space, dining in France is going to challenge you.  Very often (but not always) the tables are right on top of each other.  You get used to it a few minutes into your experience, but it's socially awkward for me.  It feels as if you are being seated at someone's table with them.  I never know if I should try to say hi or not.

After dinner we walked back to our apartment, shared our highs and lows for the day and began to prepare our hearts and pack our suitcases to leave Paris.  Today's step count: 24,805.