Monday, June 4th -- We managed to get going a bit earlier today, although we discovered that Karen had left her prescription sun glasses at the restaurant last night. She called the restaurant last evening when she discovered they were missing, but was told that they had not been found.  Wanting to leave no stone unturned, she wanted to go there and see if she might somehow find them.  We left the apartment about 9:15 am and walked back to the restaurant. Both Daniel and I were absolutely certain that Karen's glasses would never be seen again, but after looking under the table where we had sat, Karen surprised us all and found them -- in her purse!  We all had a good laugh.  Not to be outdone, Sharona wanted to be sure that she too was capable of an embarrassing moment.  While shaking the crumbs from a place mat out our fourth floor apartment window, she watched as it slipped from her grasp and floated slowly to the patio below.  Okay -- but not nearly as good as Karen's.  Sorry Sharona.

We wandered over to the Hotel Du Louvre and asked where we might purchase museum passes. We waited at the Hotel while Karen went on a quest to purchase them at a nearby tourist office.  The Louvre was just a block away, and arrived at the courtyard entrance in the glass pyramid. Even if we see just a few museums, paying for the passes allows us to avoid the ticket lines, and the one at the Louvre must be at least a four hour line. We entered immediately and thought we might be home free, but then we discovered the real crowds inside. We hurried down the main hall of the first gallery to see Winged Victory of Samothrace, a 2nd to 3rd century BC sculpture that is both amazing in size, presence, and preservation. From there we wandered a bit heading off to see the Mona Lisa, along with what seemed like the entire population of greater Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. About the only image I was able to capture were the throngs of visitors trying to take a picture of the Mona Lisa.  I couldn't even get close to the painting.

Being so crowded and hot inside the museum, we decided to leave and hopefully come back when it was not so chaotic.  We took the Metro to the Arc de Triomphe. Seen from a distance its impressive -- underneath it's awe inspiring. With our newly acquired Museum Passes, we entered the Arc and climbed the 284 steps to the observation deck. The views of the city are incredible, and the Eiffel Tower is beautifully set in the Paris landscape. It may be as close as we get as there is so much more to see and so little time to see it all.

From the Arc de Triomphe we walked down the Champs Elysees, on to the Place Vandome visiting the Ritz,  and then to the Place Madalyn for stops at both Fauchon and Hediard, famous chocolate and speciality food emporiam.  We ended up at Angelina's for their famous hot chocolate before heading back.  We ended back at our apartment exhausted from the long day, but not so exhausted that we would skip dinner.  Leaving after 8:30 pm we walked the mile to Brasserie Bofinger, but missed the restaurant and took a table for four (Daniel bowed out to rest) at Petit Bofinger accross the street.  Finally, a great French meal!

They have a fixed price menu that includes a bottle wine for dinner to share between two diners.  It was an exceptional meal that included foie gras and a tuna tartain as appetizers, broiled salmon, duck, and a vegetable dish as the main plates, finishing with desserts of fresh strawberies in a sauce of simple syrup and mint, and a creme broulette.  The wine was a lovley white bordeaux.  Everything was excellent.

Cabbing it back to the apartment, we arrived back after 11:00 pm. Another long day.  Tomorrow we plan on visiting Giverney, the home of Monet and the location where he painted his famous Water Lilly oils.