The left and right bank

Hey, what's he looking at?
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We started our day at the Louvre.  We made a beeline for the Mona Lisa and then took our time touring the rest of the museum.  The Mona Lisa is always so crowded so we knew that we needed to try and beat everyone else there.  It was a success.  When we got there, there were only about 10 other people.

I, personally, find The Mona Lisa disappointing.  There is no question that the work that went into creating her is precise and beautiful, but I think there are so many other works in The Louvre that are more amazing.  Either way, Patrick loved seeing her.  He spent a good 15 minutes just examing her - as much as one can examine with her bullet proof casing and ropes to keep viewers at bay.

St. Germaine was a definite highlight

Paw at the Louvre
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After a few hours in the Louvre we then set out to see more of Paris.  Our first stop was the Palace, and although you can't get into the Palace, we spent a bit of time just walking through the gardens.  Next we made our way to the Opera House.  What a beautiful building.  We didn't go in for the tour because we were trying to keep to a schedule, but I would have loved to.  It is definitely something for our next trip because even just the lobby is so beautiful, I can only imagine what the theater looks like.  It was all very grand.

Be-dazzled
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Finally we made our way to the Place de la Concorde and then walked down the Champs Elysees.  Unfortunately we were both so cold, we didn't spend tons of time at the Place de la Concorde but we spent just enough to get the requisite tourist pictures.  In order to warm up we went to a cafe along the Champs and sat watching the posh Parisians go by.  It was one of the funnest moments we had.

We then did a similar walk to the day before from the Arc to the Tower.  We didn't spend heaps of time at the Tower because we wanted to see St. Germaine.  The walk from the Eiffle Tower to St. Germaine included stops at the Hotels des Invalides and the Musee D'Orsay.  Next time we are in Paris I would like to spend a bit more time at the Musee D'Orsay but I think we were both feeling bit museumed out after the morning at the Louvre.

Paw at the Palace
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Our walk around St. Germaine was a definite highlight.  What a great area.  Next time we will try to stay in this area.  There were tons of restaurants and shops.  The area was clean and had a really lively vibe to it.  We had dinner on a restaurant patio and really just enjoyed walking around the little back streets of St. Germaine.

It was a long day with a lot of walking but we had such a great day it was totally worth it.  Neither of us would have changed anything, except maybe the weather...it could have been a bit warmer.  Oh well, c'est la vie!