Louvre Staffers' stage a Work Stoppage; Refuse to tell Patrons not to take Pictures.

Before I go on about the Louvre, which came at the end of the day, let me say that I'm completely worn out. Tomorrow when we try to go to places like Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame, and what not, we are taking the G.D. Metro. Today we began at the Eiffel Tower, walked through to the Arc de Triumphe, down the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, through the Place de la Concorde, Tuileries Gardens, and ending up in the Carrousel de Rivoli (which is underground, right in front of the Louvre. Including the walk back to the Hotel Muguet, that was about a 7-8 mile, 8 hour trek:

We begin in the icon of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. Seemingly small in the distance, its actually quite an impressive structure, especially when you are up on the third level at the tippy top and have an amazing view of the entire city:

A view of the Top Level of the Eiffel from the Second Level. There were lines for everything.

The view of Sacre Coeur from the top level of the Eiffel.

The Invalides's golden dome glistens in the Parisian skyline. Top left is Notre Dame Cathedral, top right is the Parisian Pantheon.

We wondered past the Tocadero, checked out the Arc De Triomphe, and wondered down the Champs-Elysees, which is like the main street of Paris; lined with chic restaurants, stores, theaters, and the sanctuary of womankind: Sephora. I was charged with getting the Mrs. some perfume from L'Occitane, and I would not be denied (although I would be denied at Sephora - they didn't carry it). We grabbed some Crepes with Nutella Chocolate, then on to the Louvre.

After 6pm, admission to the world famous art house is €6,00 so we loitered in the Carrousel de Rivoli, which has some cafes, chocolate stores, and...L'Occitane! (Easiest and most guilt free money I've spent all trip). Anyway, here are some pics leading up to the Louvre:

Looking down the Champs-Elysees at the Arc De Triomphe.

The Louvre from the front.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the Louvre was an interesting B.O./Sewage/Popcorn smell. This really permeated all around the first few halls we visited. The most glaring thing I noticed that despite the signs everywhere that said "NO CAMERAS" in every language imaginable, people were taking flash pictures like it was going out of style. Now, when in the Vatican and in the House of Commons, there was always that guy (in the Vatican, it was us) that was still trying to take pictures despite the sign, but there were also officials that would remind you: "NO PHOTO!". Here, people were taking pictures with flashes like it was going out of style, and not even a peep from the Louvre staff. My Aunt Elly-Ann would have been furious; people would have been cut.

I immediately made a bee-line for the Mona Lisa. "Oh Draconian Devil! Oh Lame Saint!" I had to see her. Getting to where you actually want to go in the Louvre is kind of a task, but when I saw finally saw her, there was the crowd: snapping away. We decided to take a picture, sans flash, but the lighting is kind of crappy in the room so if you don't hold the camera dead still, the shutter stays open a little longer and you get some blur. There is also a reflection from the two dozen other people taking pictures with their Wal-Mart cameras, but anyway, here she is:

Amazing.

Here is the Venis De Milo. Again, the lighting was crap, but Katie managed to steady the camera well enough to get this shot off. Insanely beautiful.

Why the staff at the Louvre decided to throw a camera kegger is beyond me; especially because we still bought some postcards to savor the momento of having seen these pieces. However, we were toward the end of the day, and although we breezed through the Egyptian exhibit, we were pretty much spent, so we headed back to our hotel. We need to realize that everything closes before 8:30 around here (unless you are in the Pigalle area, and I'm not in the mood to get swindled in a sex shop) so tomorrow we will try and budget our time better and get some proper food.