You should eat before battling tourists....

Okay so we are back from vacation and really I need to get serious about seeing the sights of Paris. Up until now we have been hopscotching through playgrounds and sampling treats. There are some very important things to see here in this crazy city. Unfortunately there are about a million other people here as well trying to see the sights. The line for the Eiffle Tower was a good example that those other tourists, the ones here for only a few days, mean business. So, fine. We'll get clever.

SP calling SJ at work: Meet us outside the Tuileries station at 5:30 pm. Bring nothing.
SJ: What's with the clandestine crap?
click

So here we are waiting for dad with a can of Orangina to share....

....or steal. Whichever way you look at it.

I prepared a simple and quick picnic dinner to eat in this gorgeous park. Sorry for the bad pics- only had my iPhone on me.

But of course brought the wine.....

And at 6:15 we crossed the park and got in a much shorter line at the Louvre for their Wednesday evening hours. It was still mayhem but not as bad as it would be during the day. I must say that the Louvre is my least favorite museum in all of Europe only because of its set up. Oh it is just so hard to see everything you want to see. It houses some of my most favorite pieces of art (NOT THE MONA LISA) but getting to them all without losing your legs is nearly impossible. One of my favorite thing to do is watch all the tourists who have clearly tried to do it all in one visit sitting with their heads in their hands with an air of exhaustion written all over them. You should never try to do the Louvre all at once- you won't even enjoy what you do get to see. We decided to break it up into 3 evening visits so we could actually digest all that beautiful art. We did the Denon Wing this time which has the Mona. Sweet Pea was very interested in seeing her amidst all the throngs of people. I tried to contain my annoyance with the swarms of people trying to get a peek at what I think is Leonardo's least interesting piece of work. Once she gets a glimpse of a Caravaggio she'll forget all about Mona.