Last day in Paris brought us to the Louvre. And of course, to see Mona Lisa. And Venus. And the Egyptian tombs and artifacts and Roman and Greek statues and delicate vases and nearly 5000 year old stuff. OMDL!! As much as Musee d’Orsay touches my soul, the Louvre knocks-your-socks, too, because of its breadth and depth and expansiveness as a facility and then its collections...wow! Definitely impressed. And while lots of people, we weren’t overrun or felt uncomfortable. It was a great beginning to the day! Lots of fun.
And our big walking day continued as we headed on to eat lunch at a cafe, then walked on through Tuileries Gardens. Lovely—more of a Park than gardens ...India and I rode the carousel even—Parisian carousel! We walked all the way up the Avenue des Champs-Èlysee. It was a beautiful day, tree-lined avenue, headed toward the Arc de Triomphe. We were struck by how much this area starts to look like NYC or DC or any big, metro city shopping area, particularly a high-end one- with expensive stores, security guards monitoring and controlling excess...and quite busy. Less old, historic buildings here. Newer, upscale, and modern.
Special Treat time: We did go into Laduree—a bakery specializing in macarons since 1863. They have multiple locations, but this is their flagship store. The boys waited for India and me. It was a longggg line! These macarons have a reputation to be the best in the world!! And they should because they cost. We bought an assortment; you can choose the flavors. And oh my dear ...yes, OMDL, they are fantastic! How they get the outside so light and delicious and the creme filling so flavorful...wow! Heaven in a dessert cookie!
We finished our journey to the Arc and marveled at the “spokes” of roads and all the cars/traffic coming around and ‘round...it’s really something. And then, we headed back and decided our walking extravaganza for the day had earned a taxi ride home.
Paris has been a wonderful city to experience together. What history, culture, art, and beauty, as well as wonderfully kind Parisians we’ve encountered. It’s been a dream! On to the South and Provence ~
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