Day 3

Today started pretty early. Seven am breakfast and 7:45 departure for the metro. We needed to be at the Louvre for the 9 am opening. The Louvre is one of the world's largest art museums and houses everything from Egyptian art to the Crown Jewels of France. We stayed in the museum for three and a half hours and covered a lot of territory. We saw the trifecta of Winged a victory of samothrace, Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. By the time it was all said and done, we managed to walk over four miles, so we deserved the coffee break at the end. We met with the rest of the group for what we thought was going to be a lunch break, but hopped on a coach bus for a bus tour of Paris. Again we saw the big sites... The Eiffel Tower, the invaildes (the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte), the Arc de Triomohe. In addition, we took a drive down the champs elysees and saw where we were able to see some of the damage caused by the Gilets Jaunes and those protesting in the name of the cause. There were presse stands burned, store fronts covered with paint or smashed glass and overall destruction of personal property. The conversation on the bus was...all of this for what? How dos this behavior advance the cause? Our tour ended at the base of Montmartre where we hiked up to get an amazing view of Paris and the skyline. At the top we took in an amazing view of both the city and the people. Just around the corner from the church on the top, the Sacré Cœur, is the Place du Tertre, a plaza area where artists have set up and worked for years. Artists of all kinds are found up there working and selling their pieces. The plaza is surrounded by cafés and bars and is a fun place to people watch. We did stop for crêpes since we had missed lunch and I truly believe we found the best crêperie in all of Paris. Dinner at Les balcons was next in the agenda. We have been there before and it is a very comfortable restaurant. On the menu was chicken (France's national dish) cordon blue, fries, salad and crème caramel (very similar to flan) for dessert. Our night was not yet over, even though our feet hurt and our bodies were tired, we were now off to the Eiffel Tower area where we would catch a boat for the Paris by Night experience. Recent protests and the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games in Paris have made it difficult to visit the Eiffel Tower easily or quickly,so we had an amazing view of the tower and the hourly light show before most of us boarded the boat. Our groups reconvened at 9:45 and we headed to the Bir Hakim metro station for our last metro ride of this leg of our visit. After all of the transfers, we finally made it back to our hotel by 11:00 pm and wrapped up the might in the Erler room by 12:30. This was our last night in Paris and our time here felt a bit more pressed than in the past. It always amazes me how much we manage to get in for one day while we are in this amazing city. Tonight we wrap up having completed 22,000 steps for the day. It is no wonder that as much as I love Paris, I am usually ready to say until next time.