Louvre

I am having trouble adjusting to the time zone, and I slept a total of zero hours last night.  After breakfast, my husband drugged me, and I slept until 1pm.  It's cold and rainy again, so we thought the Louvre would be our best option today.

In an attempt to live in the moment, I agreed to forgo the map and wing it.  I quickly learned that Louve is French for labrynth (650,000+ sq. feet).  However, it is incredible the volume and quality of art and artifacts they have on display.  

We started in the ancient Greek and Roman wing.  Based on what we saw, I am reasonably sure the French picked the Greeks clean.  Surely the Greeks have nothing to show from their history, because it is all in the Louvre.

We saw THE Venus de Milo (130 BC)!!

Isaac's favorite sculpture - a Roman baby wrestling a goose.

As expected, there was quite a crowd around Mona Lisa.  I have heard repeatedly how underwhelming this painting is up close, but I thought it was quite beautiful.

Isaac's take on Mona Lisa: "Meh.  It's hot in here.  Let's go."

My favorite piece is the Winged Victory of Samotrace, a marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike created between 190 and 200 BC.  My crappy picture does not do this stunning sculpture justice.  Of course, it does not help that there is a random bald man in the picture.

Isaac thinks he found his doppleganger, but I am not so sure.  One has dreamy brown eyes and the other has creepy white stone eyes.  However, both have great beards!

Tomorrow, we are headed to Bruges, Belgium for chocolate and waffles!

Pont des Arts

When I heard we were going to Paris, I determined that my first "must do" item was putting a lock on the Pont des Arts bridge and throwing the key in the River Siene, an ode to eternal love, or something cheesy like that.  We went this morning in the snow/rain/slush and found one of the few spots open to leave our "Isaac and Maren" lock.  Afterward, I stood in the freezing rain convincing my suddenly environmentally-friendly husband that it is ok to throw the key in the river. Then, we found our way to a warm cafe and enjoyed French onion soup, the real deal with a deliciously unhealthy amount of Gruyere on top.

We worked most of the day, then wandered the streets of Paris before finding a pizza place nearby. Our hotel is across from the Louvre, so we decided to check it out (will go inside next week).  There is no means of overstating its size; it's enormous.  It spans several city blocks in both directions. 

Getting to Paris

Isaac and I have the opportunity to train members of the French Merge team, so we are in Paris for 3 weeks.  Our first of two flights left at 3:30pm Eastern time and our second flight landed at 7am French time (or whatever the time zone is called here), which was 1am Eastern, so we basically lost a night's sleep. They hotel staff was gracious in quickly getting a room ready for us several hours before standard check in time, and we worked and slept the rest of the day. In fact, we slept in until 11am and missed breakfast the next day.

Our room is magnifique (and so is the hotel's chocolate cake)!

Tapas!

My next new thing...learning to make Spanish food.  I went to a Southern Seasons cooking class and loved it!

Henna

My biggest New Years resolution is to try new things.  I am comfortable in my house, my marriage, my job, but my comfort zone needs expanding.

My first foray into the new was Henna, something I have always wanted to try, and my coworkers were happy to join in.  I was grateful that the color started fading after a week, a great reminder that I am not cut out for tattoos.  After a week, I was tired of the design.