Grace and Lily Tour the Louvre!

Christmas vacation feels like it has finally arrived.  With my parents visiting us for the holidays, Virginia and I took advantage of their presence to catch a film on Sunday afternoon.  I followed most of the film though in the last 30 minutes a major plot twist was beyond my comprehension and as I left the theatre, I couldn't help feeling like I wanted a timeout from our year away.  Turns out I just needed to go to Paris!  The City of Lights has welcomed us back and as I sit here typing away with a view of the Eiffel Tower, I couldn't be happier.

We were lucky to come yesterday and not on Monday as our taxi driver told us that traffic on Monday was a "catastrophe!"  As we headed to our apartment, he relayed how he has never seen as much snow this early in the winter in his 35 years in Paris.  Maybe  Al Gore was right about Europe heading into another ice age.

We organized an apartment through holiday-rentals.uk.co and as soon as we opened the door we were ready to move in.  Our 400 square foot apartment in Avignon will be hard to return to after 5 days in this penthouse apartment overlooking the Seine with a view of the Eiffel Tour.  The owner obviously had a great time decorating the apartment for Christmas (Christmas tree and all) and we were soon all in the spirit.

Today was a day where there was no denying the fact that tourists we are. I spent the entire day with my Canon Rebel around my neck and my Sony camcorder in my right hand.  Ginger made a couple of great purchases in August when she visited the Louvre with her parents.  She bought two children books of the Louvre and with the map spread out at the kitchen table we came up with a plan of attack for the world's largest museum highlighting the must sees for Grace and Lily.  It worked so well for the girls to have a focus as traveled the multitudes of rooms that the Louvre offers up.  The first room we entered overwhelmed me as it was an amazing room filled with Greek antiquities.  Grace particularly liked the sculpture of the Three Graces.

Each room we entered became part of a treasure hunt as the girls searched for paintings and sculptures that they were familiar with.  Both girls were very impressed by The Card Shark with the Ace of Diamonds by Georges de la Tour.

Lily found it quite hard to believe that her grandfather had waited 75 years to see a painting (the Mona Lisa) that she has now seen in only her fifth year.

As we tucked the girls in tonight and went over their highlights from the day, it was fun to hear both of them reflect on their day.  Once again they amazed me with their energy, their resolve and their love of family.  Both of them spent 5 hours walking through the Louvre and their biggest thrill was doing it with their grandparents.  Tomorrow, weather permitting we will check out the other side of Paris by visiting Mickey at EuroDisney.  Here is a little video that sums up the day.  There is one minor error as Lily points out Louis the 14th's crown when it is really Louis the 15th's.  But to a five year old, I don't think that there is really that much of a difference between 14 and a 15.