Day 1 in Paris

   We had some phone issues this morning, coupled with a VERY busy day... so sorry this is late.  I should be able to post some quick updates throughout the day from now on.

  When we landed in Paris, we were going to take a cab to our hotel, but ended up going with a private driver/tour guide who had just dropped someone off.  His name was Jean Marie,and he drove like an INSANE person.  He used his phone's Waze app to bypass the hghway backups and fly through backstreets.  It was exciting/terrifying.

  We stopped at our hotel only briefly, then went right to The Louvre.  We spent a couple of hours there, and only saw the biggest attractions, becase we wanted to pack as much as we could into our two days in Paris, before we head to Belgium.

  The Mona Lisa is smaller than you expect.  The more powerful sight is the throng of people trying to get a picture of it.

...and all of those people are ingoring the massive "Wedding at Cana" behind them, which I thought was much more interesting.

  We found a great french restaurant for lunch.  I had a traditional French sandwich called a "Croque Monsieur."  It's basically a special ham and cheese sandwich, with some kind cheese melted on the outside.  Delocious.  There's also a "Croque Madame" which added a boneless chicken breast and a fried egg on top.  Nat had the special of the day, which was a four cheese souffle.  The meal wasn't too expensive, but a glass of coke was $10.  We needed it to stay awake.  Neither one of us slept much on the plane overnight.

  Afterwards, we went to the Eiffel Tower, and rode up to the top!  It was freezing and windy up there, and I accidentally left my jacket in the hotel room.  But the view was amazing.

  We also stuck around until after sunset to see the special "twinkling lights" they turn on at the top of the hour.  Originally, they were only suposed to be used during the millenium celebration, but everyone liked them so much that they're still doing it.

  OK, more tomrorow... must sleep now....