Saturday, May 4
Wow!!  Did we cover a lot of ground today.  We started off with a trip on the Metro towards downtown.  We came up across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower.  It is huge!!  We admired it from afar before walking to it.  On the way, we saw a tour bus called Furman Turs!!  Cool!!  We admired the tower from up close for a while.  Then our group split up.  Dave's parents stood in line to go up the tower (for an hour and a half) while we went off sight seeing.  We will head back to the tower on a less crowded day.  Our tour today was along the Left Bank so we headed from the Eiffel Tower to Les Invalides.  This was built as a "retirement home" for war heros.  Part of it is still a VA Hospital, but most of it has been turned into a museum.  We stopped first at the Domed Chapel where the tomb of Napoleon is.  His casket is huge.  You could probably fit about 20 people in there with him!  All along the wall are reliefs of all the wonderful things he did for France.  Also entombed here were Napoleon I, Napoleon II, and many famous war heros, including General Foch.
 
After lunch, we took in the armor museum at Les Invalides.  There were many different kinds of armor here, including armor for horses and small boys (Andrew and Michael's size).  We also saw a suit of armor that was made for Francois I (we have grown quite attached to him).  Andrew's favorite was a shield that had a sword out the side, a spear on the front, and a little trap door for you to aim your gun.
 
The next stop on the tour was the Rodin museum.  Here we saw such famous works as "The Thinker" and "Sanctuary" (a sculpture of two hands).  I can't believe that we actually got a chance to see such famous things.
 
After walking by the Prime Minister's office (who has retired after the first round of elections) and the National Assembly building, we went to the Museum d'Orsay.  This museum houses works picking up were the Louvre left off, continuing through the Second World War.  We saw many famous works (including the Whistler's Mother) by the likes of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Mary Cassat, Van Gough, and Toulouse-Lautrec.  Pretty amazing.
 
Our path then lead us past the Institut de France.  This is the place were they determine what words are worthy of the French Language.  (They don't like Le weekend and Le Hamburger.  You can't use these words on news programs and such.)
 
The place we went next is a place that we are fairly sure that your ordinary tourists don't go.  We went to the Museum of Coins and Medals.  We saw coins from as early as the 400's!  Every town used to have it's own money so we were able to see coins from many of the places that we have been, including Carcassonne, Albi, and even Toulouse!  We even found Francois I's coin!!  I told you we were attached to him.
 
After stopping at a Ben and Jerry's for a much needed snack, we walked to the oldest church in Paris, the Church of Saint Germain-des-Pres.  The first church on this sight was built in the sixth century.  The current tower is from the 11th century.  The inside was very beautiful and we think we found DesCartes Tomb!!  The boys' favorite part was the brass and drum band that was playing out in front of the church.  It was almost like listening to the Blue Devils right there in Paris!
 
We took the subway back to the hotel (with a stop at McDonald's on the way) and were surprised to find that Dave's parents were already back.  They had had a very nice day, had a chance to see a lot, and had one major adventure.  While they were getting off the subway, there was a jam of people, and Dave's Dad had his wallet pick pocketed!!  His wallet was even in a buttoned pocket.  They only lost 15 Euros, credit cards (which were easily cancelled), and a driver's license.  It could have been much worse.  It wasn't a very pleasant way to end their trip to France, though.
 
It was then off to bed for all of us.  It was a very busy day and we wanted to get an early start the next morning.
 
Sunday, May 5
We got an early start today because we wanted to beat the crowds to Versailles.  This is a very popular stop and even though we arrived about the time it opened, there was a line to get in to buy tickets.  We waited in line for a while, then decided to split up to see things because the boys were tired of waiting in line.  (We had purchased museum passes that get us into almost all of the attractions in Paris without waiting in line to buy tickets.)  It was a good thing that we went in.  Dave's parents had to wait for an hour and a half.
 
Versailles is big. There is no other way to describe it.  Louis XIV had it built to be bigger and better than anything else.  It is definitely bigger.   We aren't sure about better.  In an attempt to be better, they went way overboard!!  The whole place is way overdone.  There are paintings and gold trim everywhere.  There are no bare walls.  Every door, wall, ceiling, and floor was painted or gilded.  We have decided that we like Fontainebleau better.  Even the gardens were huge.  There were also two "petit" chateaux that were used for guests.  We missed these as it is a 30-40 minute walk through the gardens to get there.
 
We met up with Dave's parents (who managed to get in to see part of the castle) at 1:00.  We dropped them off at the airport before heading back to the hotel for naps.  We spent the rest of the day in the pool and having pizza before an early bed.  We have another big walking tour tomorrow.