Day 25 - Fri. June 19th

Today we set off in hopes of doing a little bit more shopping and general exploring of some more of the city. We also had a bad sweet tooth and some supplies for the apartment that we needed so we head out to our local Monop' to get some more goods. After putting the groceries away we head back out to find some stores we had passed but never really went into, including a three story H&M which definitely had a few... interesting items. As the afternoon continued our sweet tooth got worse, and Steph had the great idea that before the Louvre at night, we should take the longest metro ride yet over to La Grande Defense, in the more corporate/company skyscraper part of town. We picked up tarts for the night and to satisfy our current hunger, than head out to the business district of Paris. La Defense was amazing to see, especially from it's base, where it is tall enough and wide enough to fit Notre Dame underneath it. We happened to be there while a "Run against hunger," event was going on, which was also fun to see since their course was really just running around the base of the arch and it's small plaza in front of it. From it's base looking back towards the city the Arc de Triomphe was easy to see, and beyond that, all on the same road, we could see the Concorde and the Louvre. We also enjoyed walking around the huge mall right next to the arch, mostly just to see what it was like inside, and trying to get into "Le dome," which ended up being a restaurant.

We head back to the city and got out of the metro at the exit for the louvre, allowing us to enter the building not from the city and pyramid above ground, but from the awesome corridor and pyramid below ground. It was a little before six at this point so we wouldn't be able to get in for free quite yet, and instead went into the gift shop, feeling slightly obligated that we had been there three times now, and had yet to financially contribute to the Louvre's grandeur. We left with a magnet of the Winged Victory, a Mona Lisa ipod case, and a louvre bag. For the third and final part of the louvre we aimed for the Sully wing, and started at the basement level for the history of the louvre and to explore the bottom of the moat which used to surround the mansion back before when moats were necessary. We head upwards, exploring the vast amounts of uncovered ancient idols, and stone works from Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and other early civilizations from the fertile crescent. Most of the statues were awesome to see, and a lot of the little pieces that had been found were also neat since even from the BC times they were able to get really detailed on items the size of a finger nail. We then passed through the ancient roman objects, which were mostly pots and dishes with stories circumventing the outside. The ancient Egyptian artifacts were definitely my favorite, especially the statue of the dog, and the four monkeys which we high-fived on this trip, just as we had the last time we came across them accidentally. On the top floor we were able to see many great artworks from the 19th century, including a few by Pissaro and Renoir which are always fun to see.

We walked home from the Louvre with sore feet and both fairly tired to return to the apartment for some grilled cheese made with slices of Gouda. We were happy with the way that we went through the Louvre, and are glad to say that we honestly saw every room that was open, and thus every work that was displayed at the Louvre, which is definitely something that not too many get to do.

- Kyle