Today was another exciting day in beautiful Paris!

Since it was rainy and cloudy last night, we expected more of the same today and chose an indoor activity - The Louvre! We got ready to go pretty early. Joe convinced me not to put my hair up, which I surprisingly ended up being very happy with. Then we headed to the metro, which I love. Efficient public transportation is a wonderful attribute to any city. Especially when it's easy to navigate. The metro is almost exactly like BART, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Easy and awesome. Except it's always hot down in the metro tunnels! What's up with that? Anyway, we bought some Twix cookies from the vending machine (mmmm) and soon arrived at the Louvre. We waited by the glass pyramid to get in. Joe asked if I was having fun, to which I responded, "Yes! Tons of fun!" He said he was, too, and that he likes travelling with me. Then he wished me a happy birthday and kissed me! How cool! This is by far the best birthday present EVER.

It was evident we were entering into something huge as we took the escalators down two floors into the sprawling museum floor. We bought our tickets, and then, since we were starving from not having dinner the night before (those Twix cookies did not satisfy for long!), we headed straight to the cafe and got breakfast - croissants and pain au chocolat, one of the most delicious concoctions ever devised. And of course, orange juice and milk.

Then we rented audio tour headsets and entered the museum itself, stopping first at the really old Greek and Egyptian archaeological findings. There, we found sculptures from pre-Classical periods, including some of the very first pieces of art, the very first sculptures ever made. To see those things right in front of my eyes will never cease to astound me.

We moved through the museum on our way to see the Mona Lisa. We had walked a pretty far distance by the time we decided to sit for a while and look through pictures we'd already taken. And that's when the camera completely died! The problem? Batteries were dead. Did I have more packed? Of course I did. In the hotel room. Heh.

I told Joe to sit tight, that I'd be right back, and dashed off in search of the gift shop. I ran back down the long corridor filled with Italian sculptures, down the huge staircase where the Winged Victory of Samothrace stood so elegantly, down two escalators, down another hall, down another escalator and into the gift shop.

"Parlez-vous anglais?"

"Un peu."

"Do you sell batteries?"

"No, but maybe Ra-sheen. Go out, and to the left."

Rasheen? What the hell? I went out and to the left, and into another store. And had the EXACT same conversation again, with another lady.

I went out and to the left again, this time leaving the actual museum, even though I was still indoors and that's when I saw it. The Virgin Megastore. Ahhhh... Vair-jheen. Not Rasheen. Aha!

I stared at the batteries, trying to figure out which ones to get. Which pack was a good price? I knew I needed at least four, but did I really need eight? What to do?? I saw a pack of four rechargeables and thought, hey at least we can re-use these again! I bought them, and headed back to the museum. By this time, I knew I was taking forever and that Joe might be getting worried. I was terrified he might leave where he was and try to find me and that we'd never find each other again! Or you know, something almost that dramatic. I hurried back through the bag check line, down the hall of stores, up the escalator, through the real entrance, up two escalators, through a hall, up the steep long staircase, down the corridor of Italian sculptures all the way back to Joe. A little sweaty, a little out of breath, I told him the story. "So, I got the rechargeables," I concluded.

"Um. Are they charged?" Joe asked.

My heart fell onto the floor by my foot. "What?" I asked, hoping I'd heard wrong.

"Are they already charged?" he asked again.

"They don't come already charged??" I asked.

"I don't know. Why don't you check?" he asked.

The package read in teeny tiny print on the back, "Charge before use." I could not have felt more ridiculous at that moment.

First, Joe said, "Fuck it, we just won't take pictures." But seriously now, that's just not an option, especially with me, especially on vacation. We hadn't even gotten to the Mona Lisa yet!

Then Joe said maybe we should try out the batteries, just to see. And that there was no need to return them, because we can always use rechargeable batteries. We put them in the camera and it turned on! Joe took a picture of me, and then the camera promptly died. We decided to go back to Virgin.

This time, Joe found an elevator, which would have made the first trip back WAY easier. Since Joe had the backpack and didn't want to go through security check again, he walked me to the checkpoint, and I headed to Virgin myself. I stood in line behind a gaggle of teenage boys, while the sales lady brought out movie poster after movie poster, showing them off and giving them for free to them. It was sort of funny to see them get so excited about every single poster, but at the same time, I was feeling rather impatient. Finally, she waited on me, I bought the 8 pack of normal batteries, and headed back to Joe. Then we both headed ALLLL the way back to where we were before Battery Escapade 2005 had ever begun, and resumed our search for the Mona Lisa. All the while, Joe kept saying, "Dude, you're so crazy." I am glad he is amused by my dumbassery and not annoyed by it!

On the way to the Mona Lisa, we played around with the audio tour. At various paintings and sculptures, there is an audio number, which you punch into the little walkman machine and press play. Then you hear all about whatever you're looking at. Joe and I stopped at yet another painting to listen to what it was about. Joe and I hit play at about the same time. He looked at me confused. I pointed to the painting it was talking about on the wall. Then he shrugged even harder, and I asked, "Did you use the right code?" He looked down. "No!" he said, and we both busted up.

Then I listened briefly to a snippet about a painting of dogs, and rounded the corner, and that's when I saw it. A giant crowd standing in front of the Mona Lisa. I was surprised to see that it was covered by two panes of glass, completely encased on the wall. The light glared against it, and while we got some good pictures, you couldn't see the amazing detail you could on other paintings with the glass in the way. I was a little sad about that. On the other hand, I saw the Mona Lisa in person! That is unbelievably amazing and cool, and now, whenever I see a picture of it, I'll remember standing right there and seeing it for myself. Pretty cool stuff.

We saw so many other things. Tons of paintings, sculptures, jewelry, from Italy, Iran, Egypt, and Ancient Greece. I loved the sculptures of Greek deities Pan and Artemis. I have a special thing for sculptures. They fascinate me more than any other type of art. Just imagine - a block of marble, turning into something so extraordinary, by means of a chisel and an artist's mind and hands. It's unreal. Especially when you consider the detail involved, like the feathers on the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Oh my god. It does something to me to see that kind of work. It's truly spectacular.

We also saw tapestry and chairs and benches as well as the Napoleon III's apartments, which were impressive, but not as awe-striking as the other works of art. Seeing art and seeing lavish living quarters are two entirely different experiences for me, that's all. I read on the information card in the apartments that Napoleon III designed them so that very famous, important people could live in the Louvre. It was strange seeing so much velvet and gold. And the chandeliers! It was pretty crazy. The only person I can imagine enjoying living in such a lush and elaborate place as that is Donald Trump. I saw his apartment on The Apprentice, and trust me, the two places were not so different.

The last thing I had to see before we left was the Venus de Milo. We walked around a while looking for it, and suddenly there she was at the end of the hall, with a crowd surrounding her, much like the painting of the Mona Lisa. It was beyond incredible to see yet another famous work of art, right there in person, only a very short distance from me. How do certain works become more famous than others? What will people think is remarkable from today, five hundred years from now? She was stunning and gorgeous, and I'm so happy I saw her.

After that, I felt satisfied that I'd seen basically everything I wanted to see. We could have stayed there longer, easily, because there was still much we did not see, unfortunately, but we were hungry and very tired and a little achey, and still had plans to see the Eiffel Tower. So, it was time to move on. I am SO glad I got to see what we did, though! Visiting the Louvre was absolutely incredible and mind-blowing, and a simply amazing experience.

Before we left, we opted to eat lunch at the Louvre cafeteria. "Serve yourself," the sign said. Can't get much easier than that, right? Except that it wasn't like that. Sure, you could pick out your own dessert and silverware, but that was about it. For the main course, you had to stand in line and order, except that the sample meals were behind glass that was too foggy to read, yet the server guy was kind of impatient, therefore intimidating. Joe couldn't tell what was going on with that situation, so as to not get in the way, he let me order, saying to just get him whatever I was having. That seemed simple enough. I told the server guy, "Poulet," (chicken), and he got it for me. When I said, "Monsieur, excusez-moi, duex, s'il vous plait?" and pointed to my own meal, I hoped that would be clear enough. Apparently not! He got a plate and put two slices of ham on it. Ack! I didn't know if Joe wanted ham, so I tried to get the server guy's attention, but he'd already moved on, and a woman was asking what sides I wanted with my chicken. I pointed to the rice, then the green beans. She shook her head and showed me a carrot/bean concoction, and I nodded. Then I asked her in English, "Can I get another plate of the same?" and she said yes. The server guy saw her, and tried to give her the ham, asking me things in French that I didn't understand, but she told him I wanted chicken and he seemed confused and annoyed, and I apologized to the woman for being so confusing, but she said, "Non, non!" and smiled nicely at me when she gave me my second plate. Whew! Getting lunch can be an exhausting endeavour! Who knew?

Then we hit the gift shops (yes, plural), and even visited the Virgin Megastore (for the third time!). The security guy at Virgin was awesome. He liked my shirt a lot, apparently (which made me happy, as it's my favorite). He said, "El Toro!" in this deep voice (which is how I like to say it, too, something about the shirt or the phrase commands it, it seems!). Of course, I had forgotten I was wearing that shirt, so I was like, "What the hell is this guy talking about?" at first. But then I remembered and he helped by pointing to my shirt and making little horns with his hands and putting them on his head! It was awesome. That all happened the second time I was in the store. The last time I arrived, he said, "El Toro!" to me again. Then he said, "Tu toro!" and I nodded and laughed and said, "Oui!" It's true. I am the bull! Anyway...

After we left the Louvre all together, we walked slowly through the Jardins du Tuileries, which were absolutely beautiful. We sat down to relax at a table, that turned out to be part of a restaurant and when the server came by, we ordered drinks that we didn't realize were crazy-expensive until they arrived. Oh, well.

Then we tried to walk some more, but we were both aching badly, so we relaxed on a bench for a while, people watching. Two guys drove big lawnmowers on the grass in front of us, which gave off a nice aroma of freshly cut grass. Then we noticed a woman on a bench in the distance, crying. We speculated about what was wrong with her, and then ended up making up crazy scenarios, such as betting on what happened and then going up and asking her, and when each of us was wrong ("No, it's not a death, and my husband's not cheating on me... I just got fired!"), we would say to her, "Oh, we didn't guess right at all, I guess YOU get the ten euros!" Heh. I know, we're weird. I hope she is okay.

Eventually, we got up and got moving again, this time to find the Eiffel Tower. Actually, it wasn't hard to find. We could see it from the obelisque outside the gardens. And it looked somewhat small from there. But in order to actually get there, we first had to find the Metro station, which was kind of fun to look for. A little red sign reading, "METRO," hidden somewhere amongst the old, brick buildings, and rushing cars in the busy streets. My eyes stopped scanning for a moment when they landed on a little girl happily bouncing around some cement blocks as she laughed and laughed while her parents kept an eye on her and her younger brother. It made me smile. Then suddenly, Joe saw it, the sign for our station. And just like that, we were on our way.

The Eiffel Tower was easily the single most important thing I wanted to see in Paris, so I was thoroughly thrilled as we walked closer to it, watching it grow larger the closer we got. We also took a moment to sit on a bench, take in the beautiful weather and scenery, and people watch, and dog watch. It was fun to see a women chasing her little dog as he did play bows to her and ran in circles and laid down next to complete strangers. And it was cool to see a girl walking and having a normal conversation while swinging these crazy balls on ropes around and around her head and body, practising for some kind of performance art or acrobatics or something. Soon, we were on our way once more, arriving at the tower itself, which is immense and much, much taller than I'd thought it was from glimpsing it on the horizon.

I was nervous about riding the elevator up. Sometimes my heights fears kick in at inopportune times (luckily, I had a very sweet man right by my side who held my hand the whole way). It was breathtaking, in a literal sense. I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, and to breathe deeply, as I watched the city fall away beneath me. The elevator curved to the side first, then we changed elevators, and went the rest of the way straight up to the top. When I first saw the glass windows on the viewing deck, I was a bit sad. I thought we'd be outside. But then Joe made my day by saying, "Want to go the rest of the way up?" There WAS an outside viewing area, after all! I couldn't believe how high up we were. I took an aerial photo straight down, and even though I had the strap around my hand, it made me feel a little sick sticking my hand outside the fence.

We came back down in the elevator, stopping at every level to walk around and see Paris from different angles. And to see the tower itself from different angles as well. I love that there's a whole elevator system, a restuarant, and stores inside the tower itself. I had no idea. I also like the scientific education displays about the tower as well as the weird mannequin "working" on the tower, displayed up in the metal bars for no discernable reason.

We made our way back to the very bottom, at which point I ogled the tower even more. I love the curliques along the lower arches. I love the way the metal all intertwines. I love the spectacular height and design and feel of the entire structure. I love that we went there and that I got to experience such an amazing place with the love of my life. How utterly perfect!

Joe and I walked a garden path that lead to some residential streets in a lovely neighborhood. It looked like something out of a movie! I loved just casually walking around the streets of Paris together, noticing little shops and cute dogs, such as the German Shepherd who came out onto a balcony, barked once, and walked back inside.

We stopped at a larger supermarche before heading back to the hotel. There, we bought way too many sweet snacks, and a big pack of water, then rode the metro back home. Joe conked out while I ordered room service, mostly in French. I was doing fine until he asked me my room number. I didn't understand him, so he said in English, "Your room number, madame?" D'oh! I almost made it through a French conversation without needing to have them speak English! Oh, well. Maybe next time.

By the way, did you know that in France, they make club sandwiches with hardboiled eggs and ham in them? And did you know it's delicious?? Well, I'm here to tell you that they do and it is. You're welcome. Heh.

Shortly after that, I headed to bed to get a good night's sleep for the exciting day ahead. If I haven't said it yet? I LOVE being in Paris!