Love the Louvre!

So, you  may have noticed that we fell off the grid for a few days there.  But, we're back!  We had a lot to do and only a little bit of time to get it done!  So, we'll try to recap the best we can without being too long winded!  

On Friday, we spent the day at Galeries Lafayette and at the Musee du Louvre.

We first arrived in the big Boulevards and were making our way to the Galeries when we encountered an incredible street musician.  Check out the video my dad took:

We next headed into the massive store and made our way to the 7th floor and to our surprise, it opened up onto a terrace with a beautiful view of the surrounding neighborhoods.

On the 6th floor there is a cafeteria style restaurant, which puts the American Food Court to shame!  Next to the Coca-Cola fountain machine there were wine spigots offering several kinds of wine by the glass or the carafe!  Awesome!  We had a steak cooked a point right in front of us and then hit the salad and dessert bar.  Colin had the best artichoke salad EVER in his life and secretly hoarded them from us, not saying how good they were until they were safely in his stomach.  Soo good, but a little on the expensive side!  You can see a little video of the interior of Galeries Lafayette here:

Next, we made our way to Le musee du Louvre, passing through La Place de Vendome.

Then through Le jardin des Tuileries.  Upon entering the park, a local wanderer spoke to Emily's father, offering him a ring he had found in the park for enough change to buy "Cigarettes and a Croissant."  He bought it for the coins in his pocket.  Later, I discovered that it was 18K gold and probably an amazing purchase!  Crazy?  

The park/jardin ends where the Louvre begins.  

 

Here's another video courtesy of Dad's fancy camera:

We next headed into the Louvre.  

 

Here are some highlights of the 100s of pictures we all took:

This is the moat of the ancient Louvre Fortress

This is a tomb of a Pharoah, whose name escapes me.

Some chick, painted by some guy.

 

We spent nearly 7 hours in the museum and as it got later another crowd came in and we soon discovered that on Friday nights there are special performance arts that take place throughout the museum.  Some performances were better than others.  Some you just have to label as art and call it that.  This one is a video of the performance that was actually really cool!

We left the museum at about 10:00pm, when they kicked us out. We were completely exhausted and totally satisfied.  Colin and I will return and see some more of the exhibits since it's only 11 euros each for the whole day and you can exit and re-enter at any time!  

On the agenda for Saturday:  Seine River tour and Musee D'Orsay!