Days Three and Four: The Louvre

Our third day in Paris was spent exploring at our leisure, and we took in a great many of the local sights on foot. The camera stayed in the bag most of the day, though, since it was raining pretty steadily. As you might expect, the food was spectacular everywhere that we went and we learned something about Parisians that helped to shape our approach to Paris, namely, they are completely shell-shocked when it comes to tourists!

Since we live near Washington, DC, we could relate to the people of Paris on this level - and we decided to take a different tangent when dealing with 'rude' waiters, shopkeepers, vendors, and the like. By taking a few extra minutes to ask them about themselves (where they came from, how long they had lived in Paris, where their families resided, and so on) we were able to get past the natural defenses of most and had a much easier time of things. I'm not saying that this paid off every single time, but most of the folks we encountered reacted very positively to our genuine interest in their lives.

We did blunder in to discovering a faux pas in Paris, though. Here at home, it is quite natural to touch someone's arm when speaking to them, but in Paris this is a definite no-no. There is no touching, it was explained to me, unless you have known the person for some time. This took some getting used to, since I don't normally think about it in the course of normal conversation.

Our 4th day in paris was spent in the Louvre with a personal guide - a lovely French woman who was as passionate about art as anyone I've ever met. I'll let the photos do the talking here, but I would like to pass along this gem of advice: if you are going to the Louvre, book a tour of some sort. The tours get in without delay (the line is normally 3 to 5 hours!) and having a guide is definitely a bonus in this huge museum.