July 13th - How much for that Pepsi?

Standard tourist stuff today. We hit the louvre first and then Notre Dame. Let me say, what you've heard about the smell is right. It is kindy of stinky here. Especially on the "orange" line of the metro which is like 100 degrees. Other than the heat and smell it gets us where we need to go so its not that bad. The only bad thing so far has been the outrageous prices. It costs about 5 euros for a coke at a restaurant!! We discovered to our absolute dismay that the best deal in town for a meal is chez McDo-- McDonald's where you can get a combo "Best Of" meal for about 5 Euros. The same 5 Euros that will get you a teeny tiny coke at a cafe.

As for the sightseeing we did today, the Louvre was pretty neat. We saw the standard stuff like the Mona Lisa but we also saw some cool stuff in the other wings like Egyptian artifacts and some medieval building stuff on the lower floor of the Sully wing. Although truth be told, we saw this as Tom was trying to find the exit and was mistakenly following the emergency exit signs all over the building!

After the louvre we happened across the pet district with tons of bunnies and guinea pigs. They were pretty cute, but they spoke mostly french so we couldn't really understand them. I must say, there's nothing cuter than a plump guinea pig trying to speak english with a french accent!!

The best part so far has been just walking around the city. It is really beautiful and great fun to just walk around and get lost, which we have done several times. In fact, we've been lost more than we've been found. Despite Tom's usual great sense of direction, every direction he has chosen has been the exact opposite. The streets are pretty narrow with slight bends and you can't get a point of reference. Regardless, it has actually been quite fun to just walk around. We eventually get to where we are headed.