An American Plainsman in London: Day 11: Paris

Another beautiful day in Paris. I am still amazed at the absolutely wonderful weather we have had our entire trip in Europe. I think there has been one day where its rained continuously. Anyhow, we covered a lot of ground today. We started off by walking north of our hotel to a small bakery to get some breakfast. I ordered in French "Est ce que Je peux avoir un crepe et un jus de pomme?" I got my crepe and apple juice, and but I was also surprised to get a compliment on my French. Not bad for being six years out of my last French class. After breakfast we went a few more blocks north to get a look at Moulin Rouge. We just wanted to see the building, tickets for the show started at about 100 Euros per person. Next we got on the subway and headed over to the Arc de Triumph. I always knew it would be big, but it was absolutely massive in person. Definitely a very cool structure. We spent a little bit of time there then walked down the Champs Elysee, stopping in a few stores and also for lunch. We continued on down the road towards Le Louvre, and luckily we were able to walk right in without any wait. The Louvre was by far my favorite museum of the trip so far. We saw everything from ancient Egyptian artifacts, to the Mona Lisa, to Napoleon III's apartment. Next we caught the subway over to Notre Dame, another one of Paris' must see sights. We got some dinner in a cafe a few streets over, and after resting for a few more minutes, then headed back towards the Eiffel Tower. Once there, we settled down in the grass and watched the second half of the Germany-Uruguay game. I have to say, watching the World Cup on a big screen with thousands of screaming french with the Eiffel Tower in the background was one of the coolest moments of my life. After the game we lingered around a few more hours watching the Eiffel Tower and then headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and hopefully it will be just as good as today.\

In front of the Arc de Triumph.