Lost in the Louvre

Yesterday Jenna and I had breakfast in the hotel and then headed to the Louvre. We were there early so the line wasn't bad. They confiscated my swiss army knife, but gave me a little ticket, like checking a coat, so I could get it back once our visit was over. We then headed straight to see the Mona Lisa. A few minutes after admiring it we made our plan of what else we wanted to see, since the museum is massive. We decided on French paintings and sculptures, since we're in France and all. A little while later I watched Jenna take a photo of a painting, wandered into the next room, and BAM, Jenna was nowhere in sight. I walked back to the painting she took a photo of, and into the next three rooms. Couldn't see her anywhere. Trying to channel what she might do in this situation, I sat and waited, cause I didn't think it would be good if we were both walking around looking for each other. Well 30 minutes later I gave up, and thought maybe she went to the French paintings section. Which took me forever to find, even though I had the map. I had to ask two security guards and finally found the secret elevator up to the second floor. No sign of Jenna. I tried to admire the paintings and sculptures as I was looking for her, but mainly I was trying to think what I should do next. I then made my way to the museum store cause we had talked about going there afterwards. If she wasn't there I was hopeful she'd be where they confiscated my knife. As I wandered into the main entrance area, underneath the glass triangle, there she was! Phew. We had a long embrace. I was imagining asking a stranger to borrow their phone so I could message her, or finding an internet cafe nearby. Her plan was to go back to the hotel for about an hour. Luckily we didn't have to take those measures. After that we spent the rest of the day hip-to-hip.

As we were leaving the Louvre I spotted an eccentric looking man, and Jenna goes "do you know who that was? It was Richard Simmons!". I wouldn't have recognized him, glad Jenna did. When I picked up my little knife I was shocked at how many others were in the drawer. There was one with the blade 3x the size of a kitchen knife. Not sure why that was being carried around.

Leaving the Louvre we spotted a sweet old man painting and selling his watercolors. I bought two and Jenna bought one. I then asked him if I could take his photo. He seemed shy at first but said ok. Then he picked up his brush and posed for me. So cute.

Satisfied that I bought some original artwork here (from a painter in action, which is one of my favorite souvenirs and experiences), we then wandered across the Pont des Arts which has lots of love locks on it. There were even vendors selling locks to put on there. We had lunch near the Musée d'Orsay as that was our next stop. But the line for the museum was too long (and it was too cold outside to wait) so we'll go back there another day in the morning when it first opens.

Next we walked across another bridge to go through the Tuileries gardens, which were pretty. Trying to find a bathroom we finally stopped for tea to use their facilities. Then we walked along the Champs-Élysées which had lots of vendors out for the holidays. It was kind of overwhelming and not a very peaceful walk. During the stroll I almost smacked right into Richard Simmons. I then noticed his bright green hair which matched his green corduroys. Oh my.

As we got to the Arc de Triomphe we took a right to go take a photo outside of an apartment where Jenna's friends used to live. Tired and cold we then hopped into a cute hotel bar for a glass of wine and little snacks.

We ended the night at the apartment Sophie is staying in. She made a delicious meal for us and shared scrumptious cheeses that she got from the countryside. Ah-may-zing.

A few notes: 1. I'm so glad we don't have to pay for restrooms in San Francisco. I can't imagine shopping and having to pay a few dollars to use the bathroom. I've been able to avoid it for the most part on this trip by going to restaurants instead. But then again we bought two teas for 8 euros to use a bathroom today. Hmm. 2. The French bitterness and rudeness is not specific to tourists. I thought it was, but Sophie has shared that they are just as rude and angry towards her as well. It's part of why she wanted to get out of France and move to the US. Interesting. For the most part people have been fairly nice. But customer service is definitely not great here.