Sunday, August 14, 2016

Eiffel Tower from our Seine boat cruise, a couple of the many glorious stained glass windows of the King's private church Saint Chapelle chapel ( we have tickets to attend a chamber music concert in the chapel next week), the grand dame of all cathedrals "Notre Dame" and finally a peek of the spire of the American Church in Paris (Dale used to be on the Board of Directors in the '80s). Yesterday we picked up a four day museum pass to begin our earnest quest for culture! We have been viewing Great Course lectures on DVDs for months with lectures on European history, art and architecture. Now we get to view some of the paintings we have learned about. Yesterday at the Louvre we discovered Napoleon III living chambers. Amazing! Hard to believe we have never viewed this part of the Louvre before but we were told there are 3 miles of hallway in the museum to give you a scope of the place! Difficult to see everything! We love Paris...you know we do! That said, I had a disturbing experience yesterday. We do know all about the gypsies and picket pockets around the Louvre. I was guarding my shoulder bag tightly when a band of them (6-8) approached Dale to sign a petition. (That is one of their many tricks to distract you) He shooed them away but they were tenacious! When we got back to our room tonight, I noticed a big knife slice through the bottom of my bag.(My nice leather travel bag from Argentina....errrrrr!)  Fortunately the slash was not deep enough for my things to come spilling out. Glad they did not slash me!