We were so lucky on our flight over to Paris to have the two seats across from us open so we got to spread out. And I successfully carried on my lip balm in my pocket!

Tues: Our apartment was in a good location; right on the Champs Elysees by the Arc de Triomphe and we had a view of the upper half of the Eiffel tower from the wonderful floor to ceiling windows. The tower is lit at night and every hour on the hour it twinkles - very cool. Our landlord's mother met us at the apartment and she was delightful although spoke barely a word of English - led us around the rooms with a 'voila!' for here and a 'voila!' for there. We just dumbly nodded and smiled and after she left, the girls eventually figured out how to use to washer/dryer combo unit and the big screen TV. The apartment was subject to the street noise (even 5 floors up) but we were grateful to have so much room for our stay.

Spent the first evening (after we settled in and unpacked) wandering the Champs Elysees and got our first sticker shock upon discovering coke goes for oh, 5 euros a glass or 12,50 a liter - sheesh! We had pizza, thought we'd be familiar with that but the toppings are a bit different - what is it with the French and eggs? And we learned that 'aubergine' is eggplant - which actually tastes pretty good on pizza.

Wed: Thought we'd go discover the 'real Paris' and visit the Rue Cler, a street with all the little shops one hopes to poke through - chocolatiers, pastry shops, butcher, grocery, fruit & veggies, cafes - we bought baguette sandwiches for lunch (their 'fast food') and were quite gauche as we had to sit on the curb to eat. Boy, did people stare, though one old lady did wish us "bon appetit.'

On to the Eiffel tower and we rode all the way to the top. The structure is amazingly intricate and I didn't realize the four corners were set in large concrete pedestals. Poor Melody dropped her camera while we were in line and so broke it the first day we were there - too sad. We bought tickets for the double-decker tour bus and rode it till we were blocked in by (orderly) protesters - so we bailed the bus and walked back to Notre Dame where we got great pictures of Melody shoving her purse under her sweater as Quasimodo (once again, I think our humor is lost on the French).

Thurs: The girls like to sleep in (grrrr), so I went to the post office and got stamps and stopped at La Brioche for breakfast pastries (raisin snails, apricot filled croissants, and pain du chocolat). The girls wanted to head back to the tower to take photos, so off we went. We met our first beggar - a Bosnian girl who asked if we were Americans, then started kissing my hand and begging us to read a note about her plight. I gave her 2 euros, but we were to find many more beggars. Can't really call them homeless, just beggars.

After pictures, we got on the red bus again and continued the tour of the city till we got to the Musee d'Orsay where we thoroughly enjoyed the Impressionist art. Seeing many familiar works like Degas' ballerinas, van Gogh's self portrait, Toulouse Lautrec, Manet, Monet, etc.

We went to the show at the Moulin Rouge at 11pm and though it was crowded, we did have good seats. Although the dancing seemed almost amateurish at first, it did improve and the skits and acrobats rounded out the show. But man, I am disappointed they didn't do that whole can-can thing! Just a brief bit of it. The costumes were extravagant and colorful. We each were given a half bottle of champagne (I saved mine) and when they brought it to the table we tried to also order orange juice and water, but were told it was too late to order anything else! So we continued in our efforts to endear ourselves to the French people by eating the ice chips out of the champagne bucket.

Fri: The Louvre. You enter through that funky modern pyramid and security checked our bags (soldiers with uzis were patrolling the square) and we headed for the Mona Lisa (which, honestly, as you pass all the other radiant paintings you have to wonder why this picture is so revered). Also saw statuary like the Venus de Milo, the winged victory, mercury, and so on. And so many paintings that were familiar and so many new favorites.

We lunched in one of their museum cafes and I had my first croque monsieur...mmm, tasty (it is a kind of French-toast grilled ham and cheese). Afterwards, we wandered out to the garden and laid on the lush green lawn like the locals and rested up. From there I wanted to find a recommended perfume shop, Catherine's. It is a small shop but the service was excellent as she sprayed us and sniffed us and made recommendations as to scents and we were quite taken with the experience. And practically next door was a Godiva shop (wee hoo!). I got the girls some chocolate and myself my favorite cherry cordials. Sixteen pieces cost only 11 euros - a lot less than at home. The candy does taste a bit different  as there is liqueur in the cordials.