Paris, France March 30

I was up early. I had a lot to accomplish, on my final day in Paris.

First I needed to wash my final load of clothes for the trip. The next morning I had an EARLY departure for Luxembourg. The laundromat was about a half block away.

The instructions are easier than they look:


"Primus Sucks!"


After loading the machine, I raced back up the hill and attacked the breakfast room. I had it all to myself. I don't know why, but the coffee and croissants tasted better here in Paris than anywhere I'd been on this trip

I returned to the laundromat for the drying and folding portion of this task. People used the Laundromat as a meeting place. A few Asian men waited for a ride. A women and her children met another woman for a walk. I wondered if the camera in the back of the room was sending live picture to anyone

By 9 am the clothes were back in the hotel room and I was in a taxi, on my way to american express for a fist full of euros. While at Amex, I bought my ticket to the Louvre, to skip the line.

I walked toward the Louvre, staring at geocache icons, on my gps, that were behind me and getting farther away at every step. Today, I would only search for geocaches if my path went near one. Not one was on my path. Besides, so much to do, so little time.

At the Louvre, I found the line at the door to be long. A couple bus loads of children milling about blocking my way. I started waving my ticket at the clerks and once they saw me, they called me to the front of the line. Phew, I'm in.

The Louvre as seen from space:


The Louvre is HUGE. I stared at the map to figure out what section I needed to visit. I heard they have a nice portrait of an italian woman, the morning lisa or something. Once you are in the correct part of the building, you need to stay focused on where you are going. Its easy to get distracted and spend hours looking at all of the collection and get kicked out before seeing everything on your list.

They already have too much to see and more stuff keeps arriving:


Some times they don't even unpack them for us to see:


Women REALLY like this one. By the way - the box in the picture above is to the left of this picture:


I kept moving toward the must see items.


How could this be a masterpiece? She doesn't even have arms.
Venus di Milo:



Plumbers Smile:


No flash:


I made my way to 'the most famous painting in the world." As you will see in the Da Vinci Code movie, it is in a large room surrounded by tall walls covered in captivating paintings. The hum of the crowd is broken only by the screams of "NO PICTURES!" Say it often and many times in succession - no, say it LOUD. Since they were so insistent, I didn't take a picture. I did act as a shield for others to snap pictures of reflective glass.

Gotta love Google Images:


After seeing a couple 'must see' items, I made my way downstairs to see the fortress in the basement.



Yup, its authentic:


I made my way out after only seeing a teeny bit of the museum.





A light rain was falling as I made my way to the Picasso museum. I stopped for lunch and watched people come and go and deal with the wet weather.





The picasso museum is a little off the beaten path. Its in a 17th century building. I tried to take a few pictures, without a flash and in stealth mode. This is the only one that is usable.


Pablo Picasso did create paintings with weird looking subjects. He also sculpted, in a variety of mediums, he dabbled in photography... What surprised me was his use of color. A painting jumps off the wall at you - it is so vibrant. Bright orange and yellows offset with greens and browns and not one color clashes with another. Absolutely amazing:



After covering all of this fantastic museum, I made my way to the next on my list.

Almost a car:


I could have gone in but, there was a concert going on and there were no tours and the cost of admission, to the concert, was a little steep for a quick visit.











I stared at the towers for a few minutes and I assume that the current hunchback must have been busy with the concert. There was one stop left on my list for the day and there was still sunlight. Not much, but a little sunlight.



I went to the top and took in the view. It was a whirlwind tour. I wish I had planned to spend more time in Paris. I know that I can always return for a visit.









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