20,932 Steps

On the street level of our residence is this lovely bakery. Because we had an hour's walk to get to the Louvre, and we needed to be there at a specific time to meet our tour guide, we decided to buy something we could munch along the way.

We got a better view of the Eiffel Tower today as we crossed the Seine.

It was an almost 5 km walk north from where we are staying and then west along the river to get to the Louvre. There is art everywhere in this part of the city.

We walked up a giant set of stairs, through a very long farmers' market, and past thousands of cyclists on their way to work.

When I got inside the Louvre's pyramid, it made more sense to me why an architect would design such a discordant structure. It is wonderfully light inside and you can see the surrounding buildings through the roof. It felt light and airy.

And, speaking of looking up, we did a lot of looking up today. Our tour guide skillfully brought us through the history of art in France. We were a small group - only 6 people, so it was reasonably easy to navigate the crowds together as we learned about each art period.

I found the courners of most rooms the most interesting. There was usually some sculpture there.

In the room where the Mona Lisa hangs, Joel and I chose to see her from a distance and....

... let everyone else get their moment of glory.

My favourite painting today was this one showing Josephine being crowned by Napoleon. The Coronation of Napoleon.

And, this one is pretty cool too.

Back on the streets, we crossed a lot of shadows and found a crowded little restaurant to have some lunch.

I did not know that Joel loves saurkraut! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

We found a few more interesting alleys and dragged our aching bodies up 3 flights of stairs to our easy chairs.

Tomorrow should be a day of fewer steps.