Day 13 - 5/30

Paris

Local Time 11:55pm

I love this city! Tomorrow, I'm throwing my passport into the Seine River so I can stay here forever. Kevin, if you want me you're going to have to come get me.

I had a wonderful day today. This morning we went on a sightseeing bus tour. Our guide's name was Terry. He was a very typical Frenchman. He was very funny. He explained a lot of history and general cultural information about the city.

He told us he doesn't like driving in America. He said its boring because of the lanes. In Paris, there are no lanes. The roads are pretty much a free for all. I'm glad I wasn't driving.

He also told us not to wait in lines at the Louvre, especially for the Mona Lisa. He said, “If you wait in line, you will never see her. Don't be rude, be French. Say 'Pardon' and...” (He made a shoving motion with his elbow. It was good advise.

On the tour, we stopped at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Elysées for pictures. While we were waiting for the bus to pick us up, we saw a fight break out at one of the souvenir stands. A man rode his bicycle into the newspaper stand. The owner of the shop came out and started yelling at him in French. They were shoving each other and shouting various insults, which one of the girls on my tour translated.

We also did a photo stop at the Eiffel tower. As soon as the bus stopped, we got ambushed by street venders. Closer to the tower, there was a man selling poster sized pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the surrounding area. I bargained with him and got two for 10 Euros. (Not bad considering he opened with 20 for one.)

After the tour, I went to the Louvre for a few hours. I could have spent days in there. Its the largest museum in the world. If you spent one minute looking at each piece, you would be there for 3 years. I took Terry's advice and got right to the front to see the Mona Lisa. She is behind 3 inches of bulletproof glass so my pictures didn't come out great but it was amazing to see her in person. I also saw Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory, the other two most famous pieces in the museum.

For dinner we went to a restaurant in the Latin quarter for a traditional french meal. It was 5 courses starting with, pink champagne. I had escargot to start. (Shocking! I know. Don't worry I have pictures to prove it.) It was actually delicious! Everyone who was brave enough to try it loved it. For my main meal, I had beef Burgundy with potatoes. It was amazing. After the main meal, they brought us bread and cheese. For dessert, I had chocolate mousse. It was by far, the best meal, I've had since I've been here.

After dinner, we went on a cruise on the Seine River to see the city at night. On one of the bridges we went under, couples attach padlocks and then throw the keys into the river. So romantic...