Last stop: Paris

Beautiful spring flowers in Paris

After an amazing ten days in Belgium, our trip was coming to an end.  We packed up our stuff on Monday morning and headed to the train station in Oudenaarde.  We took one of the locals trains to Brussels and then it was an hour and a half train ride from Brussels to Paris on Thalys.  We headed straight to our hotel, Melia Vendome, located near Tuileries Garden and the Louvre.  We checked in and left our bags so we could do some sightseeing.  Amy had never been to Paris and really wanted to see the Louvre but it was closed on Tuesday so Monday afternoon was our only shot (although I was leaving Tuesday she wasn't flying out until Wednesday).  We walked to the Louvre via the Tuileries Garden which was full of spring flowers.  I had heard that the line for tickets was much shorter if you went to the ticket office at Carrousel du Louvre.  We had to stand in line there for maybe 20 or 30 minutes but there was still another line for security to stand in, so not really sure if we saved any time.

Louvre

Amy was in charge of where we would go in the Louvre since I had been there before  The truth of it was I just didn't want to be in charge of trying to navigate the Louvre.  That place is so huge and confusing there are probably people that have been stuck there for weeks.  She really wasn't interested in seeing the things that everyone goes to see but we sort of happened upon the Venus de Milo and I made her go see the Mona Lisa (begrudgingly).  Last time I was at the Louvre I wanted to get photos of them, but this time I wanted to get photos of the madness around them.  Trying to see the Mona Lisa is CRAZY!  If you don't like crowds, don't even try it.

Venus de Milo and lots of people

Much cooler in the Da Vinci Code

I have to say, we saw some pretty amazing parts of the Louvre where there was very small crowds.  Our first stop was the Islamic Art area.

Islamic arts: Iran

Islamic arts: Iran

We ended up getting lost trying to find the state apartments of Napolean III, but we got to see my favorite spot I have been to so far in the Louvre, the big courtyards with statues (Cour Marly and Cour Puget).  When we walked into it the first time it took my breath away.  I could have stayed there all day.

The original pig's ear treat?

Finally we found the apartments of Napolean III.  Talk about ornate, lavish, opulent.  What other words can I use?  You can find more picture here.

Grand Salon chandelier and ceiling

Grand salon ceiling

Dining room

After finishing up at the Louvre we headed to Le Souffle for dinner.  Jeannie and Jerry had recommended that we try eating here (it was closed the night they tried) and it happened to be a block from our hotel!  I got Tartelette de Saint-Jacques a l'huile de truffle (scallop tart with truffle oil) for appetizer.  It was almost as yummy as the sea bass carpaccio I had in Rome.  I could have ordered 3 of these and had that as my entire meal, but I had to eat some souffle!  I went simple and got a cheese souffle for my main and chocolate souffle for my dessert.

After stuffing ourselves it was getting dark out and I really wanted to walk to the Seine so we could see the Eiffel Tower sparkle.  This happens every hour on the hour for about 5 or 10 minutes.  We made it just in time to see it!

Obelisque and the sparkling Eiffel Tower

Champs Elysees and Arc de Triomphe

We then walked along the Seine on the most beautiful Paris evening.  It was a great way to spend my last night of the most amazing vacation in Europe.  Thank you Amy, Nick, Jeannie, Jerry, Amanda, and everyone else involved!