4/19/02 Friday
Croissant and roll with hot chocolate again for breakfast. We're
heading out for the Louvre. Using my photographer's vest 
today.
Looks like it's going to be a pleasant day.
What a day! I can see we are just dipping our toe into what
can be seen and done in Paris. We'd pre-purchased a 3-day pass
to all the museums of Paris ($64.00 + $22.00 total handling fee)
which was a time saver with head-of-the-line priviledges. We
started at the
Louvre. WOW! The building itself was immense. The largest
museum in Europe (the world?) We walked. Elaine went back to
get an audio player to explain a lot of the art. Saw Mona- actually
BIGGER than I had expected. 
All the other famous artists
are represented, as is ancient sculpture, some Louis XIV and
XV rooms, Napoleon's crown and furniture and dinnerware. It was
overwhelming. We had to finally quit and hopped the first bus
which came along (#48) and took a ride to the end of the line.
Then we hopped onto a 96 just as it started to sprinkle and rode
back toward our hotel. It cleared up and we got off at an area
that looked like it might have some good restaurants. We checked
a bunch out by weren't really excited about any. Kept walking
and found a chocolate/ice cream shop. 
Got some of each. The ice
cream looked great. Tasted the pear flavor but got scoop of hazelnut
and one called nugget. Elaine had cherry and a rich chocolate.
Plus we got some chocolate candy. Store was called "Le Chocolat"
and the candy brand was "Girard". We went next door
to La Comete had a pretty poor chicken and fries dinner. We went
across the street to a department store called BHV.
They had everything from plumbing fixtures, to toys, to electronics,
to housewares and everything in between. I couldn't believe the
variety. Out the entrance at the other end of the store we found
ourselves at Hotel
de Ville, 
the mayor's offices. What a place. Then we noticed the Pompidou
down the street and went to check it out. Found ourselves in
the library, got the librarian to look up stained glass studios
but it may be too late to see any as its Friday night, not Thursday
like I thought. We checked out some little shops and book store
before we were kicked out at the 10 pm closing. Then jumped on
the Metro to the hotel. "It must be date night" I told
Elaine. We sat opposite a young bearded "student" and
his adoring girlfriend while they smooched. He then was looking
in her mouth for something. I offered my flashlight as a joke.
We all laughed. On the next train we were opposite an older couple,
he Chinese looking, with a tie that had lots of little umbrellas.
They smooched too. Now we try to plan what to do tomorrow.
