I.M. at the Louvre
Another sight AJ really wanted to see in Paris was the Louvre. I’m not really sure why he had such an interest in it, but he really wanted to go. I was more than a little daunted by its massive size, but if he really wanted to see it that badly, I was willing to give it a go.
The museum opens at 9:30, so we decided to try to get there around then. By the time we arrived at 10, it was a madhouse. Oh the people. Again, the billions and billions of tourists. And the changes they’ve made since I was there last. Nothing was familiar and we had to wade through seas of people to figure out where things were. By the time I’d found what I thought was the correct line, there was a woman from the museum standing with a sign saying that if you were there at that point in line, you’d make it into the museum by 1:00 pm.
Um, no.
Pandaora
So instead I told AJ we could go to the museum gift shop — which I’d always liked. Funny thing that, it’s not there anymore. It’s now a super fancy high end shopping center with billion dollar purses… and clearly a steady supply of super wealthy tourists to buy them. We were not in that category. Fortunately, they had a (free!) really cool display of giant animals made out of garbage washed up on the sea shore and a giant evil looking panda named “Pandaora” (The artist, Gao Yu, wanted it to look like a panda/Pandora combo coming out of a purse instead of a box.) I told AJ this was “just like being in the Louvre” but without the wait. Okay, so I lied, but there was no way we were getting in the Louvre.
Tuileries
After looking at many fabulous and excessively unaffordable items, we decided to walk through the giant park behind the Louvre, le Jardin des Tuileries. Also free, and and also not requiring standing in a massive line. While the weather was overcast and a bit rainy, we enjoyed looking at the statues of curvy ladies (let’s hear it for the power of chocolate croissants), the fountains and the mini Arc de Triomphe (okay, actually called Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel). When we stopped for a snack (it’s pretty clear when AJ needs to eat: he gets super whiny and loses all ability to listen or reason, a winning combo really) he got a really big smile on his face and asked if anything looked different. He then held out his second tooth!
The tooth mouse is having a busy week!
Michele et Genevieve
We metro-ed home, rested a bit, and then went out again with Michele and her sister Genevieve. We completed some successful shopping (AJ smiled his way into getting a fancy scarf and a bracelet from Michele: that boy and his mad skillz) stopped for some juice and coffee, followed by some macaroons from the best (and most expensive, I swear) bakery in Paris. To eat our colorful and delicious snacks we went to the Jardin du Luxembourg where AJ enjoyed watching families play with boats and I enjoyed sneaking more than my half of the cookies. What?!?
The gallery of highlights is at https://photos.smugmug.com/Family/2014/Europe-AprilMay/Highlights-May-2.
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