Paris

After Verdun, we headed to Paris. Well, we headed to lodging just outside the city, then headed in the next day. The goal was to see Parisian highlights in one day. By car. Which is a really bad idea, but good for social distancing. Here's how it went.

We had tickets to see the Louvre at 9am, so we left the house around 7:30am. It was only 20 miles, how long could that take? (Answer: over two hours.) We drove by Notre Dame cathedral (still under repair after that fire a few years ago) and parked near the Louvre, finally walking in at 9:55am. I was terrified we'd have to buy tickets for the later time slot, but nobody cared, and it was reasonably empty (for being the Louvre). We enjoyed the Mona Lisa and Ancient Egypt exhibitions the most, though it all seemed pretty cool. We could have spent much longer than the hour we did there, but the kids were whining for baked goods (and I was pretty hungry myself).

After the museum (and amazing baked treats), it was on to the Eiffel Tower and surrounding streets. The kids loved the structure, and the amazing lunch (sandwiches on baguettes with macaroons for dessert). They immediately picked up on the food quality in the city, as well as the beautiful architecture (of both 'stately' buildings and normal homes), which I tried (and failed) to capture in pictures.

After finding a gas station downtown (not easy or fun), it was on to the Arc de Triomphe. We drove up the Champs-Élysées and around the circle. At this point I should mention my experience in driving in Paris. There's only one rule: there are no rules. Lanes are suggestions, yielding is a sign of weakness, and so on. Anyway, we parked to get a better look at the Arc, but by this point the kids were exhausted, so we didn't go up.

It was then on to Versailles (tomorrow's post), but I'll finish with our thoughts on the city:

- amazing food

- delightful architecture

- too much to do in one day (if we had another day, we would have seen the catacombs, Napoleon's Tomb, the outside of Notre Dame, walked the Champs-Élysées, and visited more bakeries)

- don't drive in the city

- the crowds were much lesser than normal

- I'm glad we did it