Paris!

Ah, Paris. You tourist town of all tourist towns. I had a lovely time in Paris, but man, are there a lot of tourists! I climbed the Eiffel Tower (here's me halfway) where I enjoyed an espresso overlooking all of Paris. It really was quite an impressive tower. However, not nearly as much of a climb as I expected.

Afterward (there are people begging for money every 2 feet) a guy wouldn't stop bugging me for money for a sandwich. So I took him to a vendor and told him to pick out a sandwich. He was pretty upset and changed his mind to needing money for a ticket to see his family in Bulgaria. I bought him a hot dog. Kinda funny!

Then I strolled down the Champs Elysees and spent the rest of the day in a British pub drinking with an Australian and an Irishman... sure had to go to Paris for that one - haha! Great fun though!!

The next day I went to the Louvre. WOW! What an impressive museum! I got there half an hour before they opened to beat the crowd... however, 500 people had that idea before me. But I did get in before it got too crazy. The Mona Lisa was absolutely incredible. I did not expect to get so close, but I stood right in front and just looked for at least 15 minutes



(which is not east with hundreds of angry Asians shoving you out of the way to get a good flash photo with their oversized Nikon cameras... gosh that drove me nuts. How many people didn't see a single piece of art, just the images on their camera screens? You know, people, you can look up a nicer photo of the piece on the internet if that's all you want). It was absolutely amazing though, really. I got a little claustrophobic after a few hours with all of those people, so I strolled a bit up and down the river. Then I got a complimentary driving tour of the city from the guide from earlier in the trip with Emmy's group who was doing a tour in Paris! VERY cool!!! WAY nice guy!!

I am now in Belgium! I got here yesterday and had a lovely tour of Bruges! WOW!!! THAT is a gorgeous city! By 6pm I had "sampled" six delicious Belgium beers (I think I am becoming a connoisseur... ok maybe not, but it sure is tasty!). I think I like this country.