Georgie and Sherrie's Parisian Adventures - Day 5

On Wednesday the 21st we went to the Louvre. 

The entrance area is a little crazy there are just people going every direction with no real order. We eventually found the end of a line and joined that. It turned out though that that line went to ticket machines that only look card payments, which I really didn't want to use because I already had taken out cash and I would get charged for the overseas transaction, c'est la vie.

We also bought the audio guide which I now consider one of the best decisions I have ever made. They give you a Nintendo 3DS that has a 'game' that is a guided map you can choose the main pieces that everyone wants to see and then guides you there like a cars GPS (we still got hopelessly lost on a number of occasions thought). Plus it has information about every piece in the gallery (probably, I didn't test this theory). It is also available in the gift shop, I probably would have bought it if i had a 3DS. 

We saw the main ones and they were really good but the Mona Lisa was the most memorable. Not because I was in awe of the artwork (everyone says its smaller than you expect, its the same size as a normal painting) or the size of the crowd. It was what people in the crowd (*cough* Americans *cough*) were saying. Firstly, there was a tall man two people infront & diagonally to my left, he was by no means a giant just slightly taller than most tall men. The way this lady behind me was carrying on about him standing there taking photos over the tops of peoples head (because he could) could have been mistaken for him chopping off people head to take the photos. So I accidentally stepped back onto her foot. 
The other most memorable comment from that crowd came from another bright American lady having a  go at all the people not moving because they wanted to look at the painting "they are just looking at it, she hasn't even taken a photo... whats the point of that?" Sherrie and I just looked at each other trying not to laugh. We got a photo ... 

I saw no real point in trying to get just a picture of the painting. They sell massive posters to tiny postcards in the gift office they will be much better quality. So I got a post card... its on my wall now. 

We had lunch there, we both ordered our entire meal in French. And continued viewing until we had seen everything we wanted to and our feet were hurting too much. So we bought some Ben & Jerry's, exited through the glass pyramid and ate our ice cream on the roof to rest our weary feet. 

Inside the Pyramid with my super cool 3DS around my neck.

With no real aim in mind we walked down through the Louvre gardens towards the river. Then we spotted the Eiffel Tower ... should we go and see it one last time? Yes. Yes we should. 
It was a long walk all the way to the tower and even just to the metro station so we took the bicycle tuk tuks because the driver offered us half price because 'we were beautiful and skinny'. WIN!
It was actually a really great way to see the city!

Tuk Tuk Selfie

This time we bought elevator tickets right to the top. I still dont understand how we pulled this off, but one of the queues had only a hand full of people in it. They all had strollers so we asked the security guard if we had to have a stroller or a wheelchair to be in this line. He said no and let us walk though so we were up the tower 10 minutes later. We got food in the second level then joined the line to go to the top. That line took FOREVER and it was full of bad tourists, who had no idea about how lines worked or personal space. 
Finally we got to the top and it was SO windy and rainy outside. At first i felt a bit dizzy from the height but that passed and I admired the view (from inside).

Mighty high view we have here... mighty strong wind too

That feeling in your stomach & toes when you look down from a really high place

The view down the other opposite side... even windier

Proof of said wind

High on love