June 17, 2023

We decided to sleep in a little today since our tour didn’t start until 11:30am. We weren’t that far from the Louvre, so we decided to hoof it. We left the hotel around 9:30 and stopped by a little cafe for breakfast. There is literally a cafe on every corner, and then some. They are all as cute and quaint as you imagined. So we chose ours purely based on how cute it looked. The name “Au Chien Qui Fume” means A Dog that smokes, which feels just about as Parisian as you can get. We all got croissants and the kids loved them.

After breakfast, we headed off to meet our tour. We took a group tour of the Lourve. It is cheaper, but frankly, you are often dealing with people that are not prepared for the conditions (amount of walking) usually and that can be frustrating. If you go to the Louvre, I think a guided tour is a must. They provide so much information and an audio guide really can’t replicate that. They also do a great job of getting through crowds. We found ours on Viator and there were many to choose from.

Here is what I will say about the Louvre: We are not super into art. The Louvre was hot and crowded and, like most of Paris, smelled of body odor. We had 1 day available to tour it. We had a half day tour that sped through to the high lights and provided a lot of history of the building and the popular works of art. I, personally, could not wait to get out and breath fresh air. The crowd at all the “highlight” points, especially the Mona Lisa, was a little crazy. People push, camp out in front of others, and are generally rude. If I was in Paris for a longer period of time, I would break the Louvre into smaller sections for a more in depth tour over more days. I was really interested in what we learned, but the heat, lack of water, and crowd got to me.

After the Louvre, we headed to lunch. We found a nice, slightly overpriced cafe near the Louvre. Jack had octupus and Kate had escargot, which really surprised me. She loved it.

We decided to make a day of museums. Since my aunt, who lived in Paris for a year, recommended the Musee d’Orsay, we decided to give it a visit. The Musee d’Orsay featured works from Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Seurat, Van Gogh, and mroe. This was a great museum and I wish I would have had a guide. I had an audio guide, but it wasn’t the same. This museum wasn’t quite as popular as the Louvre, so it was less crowded. Still hot, though.

Since we were in the neighborhood, we decided to check out a restaurant my aunt recommended. Relais l’Entrecote serves one thing, steak and frites. We got there right after they opened (6:45pm) and a line was wrapped around the block. We decided we had nothing else to do, so we waited it out. We got seated after about an hour of waiting in line. After we were seated they asked for our drink order and how we liked our steak. After that, our food came quickly and it did not disappoint.

After dinner, we were closer to the Eiffel Tower than we had been yet, so we decided to pay it a visit. From my prior visit, I remember how spectacular the Eiffel Tower was at night, especially on the hour, so it was a must see. The twinkling lights come on the hours and last for five minutes. Belive it or not, 10:00pm wasn’t dark enough, so we waited for the 11pm light show. It was so worth it.

Since it was after 11:00pm, we decided the quickest way to get home was best. It took 2 subway rides to get home, but was pretty easy and we didn’t wait long between trains. We really try to use public transportation as much as is reasonable on our travels. It is always the most affordable and usually pretty convenient.