Boy, am I tired. Today, we went to the Louvre Museum and is that place ever huge. There were three areas spread over four floors and I’m pretty sure I didn’t see everything (although certainly not from a lack of trying). We were there for four hours and had it not been closing time, we would have definitely stayed longer. I can now add the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo to the pieces of art I’ve seen in real life.

Louvre Museum.

Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Venus de Milo.

 
I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid, from inside the Louvre.

After the extensive exploration of the Louvre, we had dinner before looking for souvenirs. Most of the tourist shops where close by that time so we didn’t have much luck. The last thing we decided to do before leaving Paris the next morning was go ice skating! There was an outdoor ice rink in the city center, to my surprise, so we enjoyed it. I had a fun time and I’ll probably try to go skating more often once I’m back home.

Mmm, dinner!

Ice skating in Paris.

Our flight to Madrid is tomorrow morning and I’m already dreading having to wake up extremely early (4.15a, anyone?). I wish I had more time in Paris. I really wanted to see the Moulin Rouge, among other things. I’ll definitely have to plan for a longer trip to Paris in the future.

What a tiring day! Left the hotel around 10.30a this morning and walked to the center of town. By that time, Renee and I were starving so we had a bite to eat. During lunch, we met some folks from Australia and they were pretty friendly. With a full stomach, we went to check out the Notre-Dame Cathedral. It was grand. Everything inside was amazing and reminded me of the cathedral I visited when I was in Montréal. After that holy experience, we set onto our next experience. Although not holy, it sure felt pretty close to heaven: The Eiffel Tower! After the walk to the cathedral, we decided it was time for the bikes again. The Eiffel Tower isn’t really that close unless you have a car or take the bus/metro. But we were strong and tough and peddled all the way.

Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Joan of Arc.

The Eiffel Tower.

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Time for another recap of Europe 2008. Last Sunday, we went to Cheddar (the birthplace of Cheddar, the cheese) and went into the Cheddar caves. It was pretty neat, much like the Roman Baths. Seeing all the4 history of things like that is pretty cool. Also at Cheddar were these steps up this steep hill and along the way, it had interesting facts about the prehistoric times and tidbits of how Earth evolved. Interesting. At the top of the steps was a tower and from the top, you could see the surrounding lands. Going to the top of the tower is not for someone who’s afraid of heights. Luckily, I’m not.

Cheddar Man, Britain’s oldest complete human skeleton.

 
Welcome to Cheddar.

The watchtower. 

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