The highlight of May 10th was a tour around the Lafayette Gallerie in Montparnasse,

shopping with the girls…

Then we went grocery shopping…

After almost two weeks, we have noticed that the girls are much less anxious about approaching people to do the small tasks they need to do.  Buying simple items, finding a bathroom, asking  easy questions are all getting easier.  They are beginning to realize that they can get along in other cultures, with folks who don’t speak much English.  They are also beginning to figure out that although things are different – they aren’t necessarily bad.  Although it was also nice to learn that Frosted Flakes are called Frosties and they are just the same!!!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah… 1o full days in Paris and no museums.  So shoot me… I’m not a big art guy. But, thankfully I have a 15 year old daughter who is teaching me how to be a man of the world – and forcing me to be a good father – so she took me to the Louvre!  We downloaded to the iPhone the free Rick Steve’s audio tour and headed to the Metro. Thursday, May 9 was a French national holiday in honor of the Ascension so the city was quiet and the lines at the Louvre were not too bad in the late morning. Here are some photos of Caroline seeing (and imitating!) some of the most famous pieces of art in the world. First is the Venus de Milo!

Other important statues…

The Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The Kings’ personal stuff…  Steal it from other places or have slaves make it for you. Then, make a museum showing how great you are… It’s good to be the king.

The Great Hall with many fabulous paintings…

The Mona Lisa has her own wall and ridiculous crowds… Caroline said, It’s smaller than I thought it would be.  I heard the same thing in 15 different languages!

Michelangelo’s Prisoner – very cool

Ramses II

After seeing all of the most famous pieces of art in the world, we met up with the rest of the women – who had been strolling around the city on their own, and saw one more fabulous sculpture…

…of Caroline!!!

After two very beautiful yet tiring days in Normandy, Wednesday May 8th was a rainy, sleep in and (being happy about) doing homework day…

But, thankfully,  the weather cleared in the evening and offered us a perfect chance to walk down the street to some tower built in 1889 as the entry arch for that year’s World’s Fair.  Only about 7 million people will ascend the Eiffel Tower this year, so it was important for us to be a part of the select few. The walk is 15 minutes from the apartment, just down Avenue de Saxe around l’Ecole Militaire and through the park called Champs de Mars.  The view begins when we step out of the door.

There are a two things that are givens at the Eiffel Tower – lines and pickpockets.  Fortunately we were able to avoid both. We stayed close together in the crowds and we took the stairs.

The views begin right away.  You’ll see the stretch of grass with the big tower in the background a lot.  This is the park called Champs de Mars. The park is named after the Campus Martius (“Mars Field”) in Rome, a tribute to the Roman god of war. The name also harkens to the fact that the area was used as drilling and marching grounds by the French military. The large tower in the back ground is the Montparnasse Tower.  Completed in 1972, it’s basically a large office tower and the reason that skyscrapers are now banned in Paris. But this is our neighborhood – the 7th Arrondisment.

By climbing the stairs, you save some money, you avoid the huge line for the elevator and you get some exercise.  You also get to take some great photos.

After Climbing to the second level, everyone must get the elevator to the top.  Our timing was pretty good as the sun was setting when we got to the second level and we got to see the lights of the City of Lights when we arrived at the top.  Even so it’s hard to keep everybody happy… We thought it was that this guy was equally grumpy with us….

The route down also offers opportunity for some great photos.

And when we arrived back on Avenue de Saxe the tower said goodnight to us….