We started early this morning on the Eurostar Express from London to Paris. Checked in our 29th floor apartment and then hit the street.As we walked it started to sprinkle then rain; almost lunch, tummy grumbling, great time for lunch.Looking around, pizza again?Nay, we are in Paris, let's do Lebanese- what else could one have in Paris?? After lunch, we walked and walked and walked and decided last minute to take a taxi to the Louvre since it would be closed on Tuesday which is the only other day we had available in Paris. It was fairly busy this time of year; hate to imagine it in July or August. We decided to wonder on our own which is challenging as none of us are huge art fanatics. There is so much to see - Roman, Egyptian, Greek is what we cruised through. Our target though was Leonardo da Vinci's 16th century painting of Mona Lisa which interestingly enough was just as interesting watching the hundred or so people jockey for position to snap a photo.It was a bit of a game timing my photo with everyone else that used a flash which nicely reflected off the glass enclosure, darn them all. Other famous art works that we remembered were Venus de Milo and Winged Victory which dates back to 200 BC! Of course one cannot miss I.M. Pei's glass pyramid which you enter the Louvre.

Got thirsty and had to buy some water - $5 Canadian, yikes but really thirsty!! Walked down the Champs de Elysees up to the Arch de Triomphe.Gail could not do the steps because of her bumped knee so she convinced one of the workers she needed to take the elevator up, of course we could not let her go it alone so we went with her although we really wanted to take the steps…right… After taking another billion or so pictures, I had the bright idea to take the ole tourist photo of Michael holding the Eiffel tower between his fingers; a little bit of creative maneuvering and wa la, done.We caught the attention of a curious Asian woman who wanted to look at our photos; she let out the cutest chuckle then called her friends over for a look and they all had a chuckle.Time to go; Michael and I opted for the 284 steps down while Gail opted for the Elevator. We then hobbled to the market for groceries and wine and almost made it to the EiffelTower before collapsing at the hotel with our wine. The day was dreary, damp and cooler than expected - we hope it and we will be better tomorrow!

Off to bed as we have another early morning (5:15 am) to head to LoireValley to hang with Royalty.

Thanks for all your best wishes we carry your thoughts as we trace the path of royalty.

Hugs and kisses to Smokey and Bear.

Ta Ta for now