Paris in the 'Almost' Springtime

Well I can imagine that the saying that Paris is best seen in the springtime is true because seeing it in the 'almost' springtime has been great but the weather has definately not been ideal. It's been chilly and rainy here and our trek up the Eiffel Tower was done on a cloudy rainy day so the view was a little foggy, but still visible. I shouldn't complain though, it's much warmer here than it is back home! Anyway, our first couple of days here have been so busy we've just been exhausted by the end of the day! There's so much to see and do here it's amazing! Our first day we visit the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Champs Elysee, Arc de Triomphe and all kinds of intriguing little side streets in between. We wandered aimlessly for awhile and came upon a huge shopping street called Rue de Rivoli which led us straight to the Louvre and the PLace de Concorde. We decided to explore around there a little bit and as we walked the gardens in front of the Louvre we heard some good tunes coming from a big white tent set up in the garden so we thought we'd check it out, maybe a free concert or something. Instead we discovered a Dior fashion show was letting out and watched models and the well heeled of Paris emerge to greet the media awiting them outside! Since then we've confirmed that it is Fashion Week in Paris and that explains all the white tents set up at all the landmark locations in the city! Pretty cool. On Tuesday we pretty much spent an entire day at the Louvre Museum...so much to see there! After 6 hours in the museum we were pretty exhausted, mentally and physically! It's a beautiful building, with beautiful old tresures inside, definately a must see. We of course saw the Mona Lisa, but oddly enough didn't seem to live up to the hype... just a painting of a woman. In my opinion there's so many better things to see in there! As we wandered out of the museum we found a nice little cafè called 'La Brioche Doree' and had ourselves some 'pain au chocolat et un boisson chocolateè'. This particular cafe can be found all over Paris. We like the atmosphere and they always seem to be located in good people watching locations! After a long day at the museum we took the metro home and were serenaded by an accordian player on our train. That music you hear everytime Paris is depicted in a movie or T.V. show... it's real! You do hear it on the street and in the Metro here! We had another long day at Versailles yesterday. Another beuatiful Palace, just like the Louvre. Unfortunately a lot of it was under construction and the gardens were not in their summer glory but it was still fascinating to see this historical location. The wealth and luxury of the French Monarchy prior to the revolution is unbelievable. No wonder the commonfolk revolted! Christine and I took a boat tour on the Seine River lasr night when we got back to the City and had a chance to see some of the city at night too. Today Christine and I visitied a FREE museum on the history of Paris. It was in an old hotel and it had these beautiful gardens in the courtyard with sculptures all around. Very french and very pretty! Tonight we leave for Munich on an overnight night train and then tomorrow we are travelling to the Alps for some skiing! Miss you all!