Paris

No practice on Wednesday or Thursday. We wanted to go down to the Loire Valley since it's very rare to get two full days off in a row in the middle of the week. However, all of the hotels we wanted to stay at were closed until mid-February. So, we planned my first trip to Paris. Actually, we really didn't do any planning until we got to the hotel late Wednesday afternoon. Turns out, the Louvre stays open until 10 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. We were psyched, and headed to the museum.

The Louvre at 7 pm. Pretty Da Vinci Code-esque, huh?

Surrounded by French sculptures in the Cour Marly. This used to be an open air courtyard before it was covered in glass. You get very weary after three hours of wandering around the Louvre. We saw tons of artwork (Mona Lisa), sculptures (Venus de Milo), jewelry (this 186 carat diamond), pottery and furniture from all over the world. Even with a museum map, you can't help but get lost. Our advice: bring water and snacks and wear comfortable walking shoes.
Notre-Dame. Both of us are in this pic. Very rare.

Karen and two gargoyles. We walked to the top of Notre-Dame. 387 steps. Great leg workout.

Gargoyles on top of Notre-Dame.

Panoramic view of Paris from the top of Notre-Dame.

Across the street from Notre-Dame is the Conciergerie. We didn't take any pictures of this site because it was really dark inside. The Conciergerie used to a prison. Marie Antoinette spent her last days here before she was guillotined. Louis XVIII built a chapel on the spot where she was imprisoned to commemorate the queen.

Arc de Triomphe. We walked up to the top of the Arc, almost as many steps as Notre-Dame. The calves were burning at this point. At the bottom of the Arc is the tomb of the unknown soldier. A flame of remembrance was lit in 1923 and has not been extinguished since then. This pic was taken while waiting for the light while standing in the middle of the Champs-Elysees.

Panoramic view of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.

View of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees from the top of the Arc de Triomphe. Good shopping in Paris, but not as good as Milan. You can kind of see the Louis Vuitton mother ship on the right (it's the one with the glass roof).

Place de la Concorde after a brief afternoon shower. The pointy thing in the middle of the square is a 3200 year old obelisk from Luxor, a gift from Egypt.