Girls Trip to Europe Day 3 - The Louvre, Tuileries Garden, Arc de Triomphe

Girls Trip to Europe Photography in part by Ari Nordhagen of Amen Photography

Good Morning Paris!

Our hotel was very close to the Arc de Triomphe, so before taking the metro to the Louvre on Friday morning, we decided to get a closer look. I kept having flash backs of National Lampoon's European Vacation. (Note to self: must watch this again soon). We found the tunnel to the middle but when the reality of the line length become evident we reevaluated our priorities. With such a short time in Paris, I did not have the patience to spend my time waiting in lines.

Our next stop was the Louvre where we followed the line...turned...followed the line...turned...and followed the line to the end. Thankfully I overheard one of the guard type helpers instructing someone how to bypass said line. So we excited the Louvre back to the front entrance and turned left. Spotting a golden Joan of Arc on our right, we found the street behind her and carried on until we came across the Tourism Office where there was one person in front of us. In addition to tickets to nearly anything you want, complementary guide books were also available.

On our way back, we spotted a georgeous dress in the window of a cute little shop called Rotin's Home. Popping in to check it out, we met the designer who owns Rotin's Home with his two brothers. There is a bakery downstairs and amazing finds upstairs. He's on Facebook you should stop by and tell him I said hi.

A quick stop for some more cafe au lait (of course) and potty break where I spot this amusing back lit, pink toilet paper display. Crazy American taking photos of the le toilet!

As we continued our walk back to the Lourve, we discovered an artist vendor at the side of the road. Signed Pineo, her little Parisian oil pastels were perfect souvenirs. Ari and I both bought one and we are in the process of putting them in matching gold frames. Photos of our paintings soon to come...

Finally....The Louvre. It probably took us an hour to walk to the tourism office while getting side tracked on the way back but the adventure was much more valuable then standing in a line. The Louvre was, well...The Louvre. We probably only viewed about 15% and could have spent another couple weeks seeing the rest. I am glad I got the opportunity to view the Mona Lisa through so many LCD screens all at the same time. I was also wacked in the back by an Asian lady with an ipad because I was standing in her way. That's a Louvre memory I will never forget.

There was artwork that made us laugh...

...and some that made us cry.

When walking through crowds we always had a hand on our purse in front of us. Ari had read about strap cutting where they grab your bag and go. Children with backpacks are especially dangerous. Wow did I really just write that?

We bought stamps and postcards and mailed them to family from the Post Office in the Louvre.

There was a full food court just outside the Louvre (under ground) that offered food from all different ethnicities. Mediterranean was our choice of the hour and we devoured every last bite. It had been hours since our last meal I believe we may have started to starve.

Tuileries Garden was in bloom and gorgeous. Once again, children could rent little sail boats and the chairs and benches were free to be moved around in conversational circles or love seats. From the center pond you could see all the major land marks in Paris. Why did I choose that moment to forget about my panoramic app on my iPhone I don't know.

The rest of the day we spent walking through a couple malls and shops. The first mall was simply breathtaking. It was here that I spotting a pair of Camper shoes that I decided I needed. Unfortunately they were out of my size so it became our quest to find another pair. This led us through to another mall that was three seven story buildings, all on corners with overpass walkways at either floor three or five, depending. That's a lot of escalators I have to say. The shoes were yet to be found.

The furniture department had quite a few unique pieces including this epoxy and clothing chair. For the purpose of maintaining a crazy length post instead of INSANE, I will share more furniture photos another time.

Dinner: Do they still call it French Onion Soup in Paris? In the translation they did. ...and boy it was tasty.

The restaurant bathroom was fun with it's curved ceiling and pock-a dot lights. The toilet required a coin to enter but the urinal was behind swinging saloon doors with a big'ole gap. I decided to go ahead and splurge for the private room.

Speaking of lights, these caught my camera lens while waiting for the metro.

Just like everyday....beauty was everywhere.

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