Day 2 in Paris

We started off Day 2 with breakfast at the hotel. There are lots of travel groups in Paris now since its Spring break for many schools and holy week as well. This is Paris' biggest travel week of the year. So it was a bit crowded at the hotel but our kids did great! Then it was on to a bus for a guided tour of Paris with our guide Lexi. We drove through almost every quarter of Paris, admiring all of the beautiful iron balconies and learning about much of the history of France and Paris. We learned about hotels and how they started - as private residences of the nobility. We saw Marie Antoinette's home where Mozart played for her and many beautiful gardens. We also passed by the famous Opera house th was the setting for Phantom of the Opera. We crossed many of Paris' famous bridges on our way throughout the city and made a quick stop at Les invalides for a photo. This is where Napolean's tomb is. It has an amazing gold domes and now is a hospital for veterans. Next we headed over to the Eiffel Tower for lots of photos. Our kids had a great time taking pictures and being silly. There were tons of a people there! We drove up to the base of the tower and watched the masses of people- the line to go up was nearly 4 hours long! Right now there is only one elevator working so it's a bit of a problem. After that awe drove down the famous Champs-Elysess one of the wide boulevards of Psris. It is a commercial area with lots of flagship stores and at the top is the arc de triomphe. 12 avenues meet together at the arch and form a star. This is also where the Allies marched into Paris at the end of World War 2. We took lots more photos then it was back to the Louvre At the Louvre we elet the kids eat some lunch in the food court there, which is international themed. Is. Moron tht no one went to McDonald's ( at least that they admitted!) it was also time for pictures in fornt of the Louvre pyramid and of course the apple store. We went in to the Louvre which was also mobbed and most kids headed off to the Mona Lisa. A few ventured to Napolean's apartments and viewed the crown jewels and opulent bedrooms. Another group reported the visited the sculpture gardens anD saw as sphinx. After the Louvre we hopped on the Metro and headed back to the Champs-Élysées for some shopping! Philip found the soundtrack for the show we have been leaning about in class, which just came out yesterday. So excited to play it! Others shopped for souvenirs, explored the high end stores and walked back up to the arch. We even found a camera charger and disposable cameras for Courtney who left her charger at home. We met back in front of the Disney store sand headed off to dinner. We ate at Flam, which is an Alsatian restaurant. This is French food influenced by Swiss/German food. We started with a salad of greens, nuts, and cold sliced potatoes. Then for the main course it was flamekeuche which is a specialty. It's like a super thin pizza on a tortilla crust. There's usually some cream and cheese as the sauce then a meat (we tried both bacon and beef varieties). It was all you can eat so the boys enjoyed it most I think! For dessert they brought varieties with apples and chocolate. Those were a big hit too! Part 2 will continue because I'm out of room (typing on an iPad as we drive!) After dinner we took a leisurely stroll though one of the richest districts in Paris. We saw Harry Winston and ,