Paris

So, the first day we went to the Louvre, but whereas Kyle and I went to cafe and grabbed a quick lunch the rest of the family decided to have a sit down lunch that took nearly 2 hours. So, by the time they got out we would have only have a few hours at the Louvre, and so we left. Then walked down to the Effile Tower. I was smart enough not to climb up the damn thing. I read in a guide book that it was created for a World's Fair. And a couple of years after the fair, the French wanted to tear it down. BUT they realized that the top of the tower was the perfect spot to put radio antennas. So, they kept it.

The next day was Christmas and everything was closed. Mom and I headed up towards Notre Dame and got the worst meal I've had in a very long time. I didn't know what I was ordering...but I ended up eating a tuna quiche. Now, I like raw tuna but cooked tuna is foul. And that shit was stuck in my teeth all day.

Today we went back to the Louvre. It was underwhelming. Especially after the British museum. The Monna Lisa isn't impressive. I've taken many art classes, and a number of them have spent significant time talking about her, and I still don't understand why people think she's so great. A lot of the paintings were by renaissance French artists, but I've never really been all that into the French art movements besides impressionism, which they had absolutely none of. There were a couple of pieces by Giovanna Paolo Paninni that I really liked. And there was a statue of Cupid and Psyche that was moving. But the rest blew.

Tomorrow we head back up to Notre Dame and then on to Musee d'Orsay (post-impressionist, impressionist, and modern). I'm really excited for both. Then tomorrow evening we take a sleeper to Monterosso (the most northern town of Cinque Terre). I'm excited to be back in a country where at least I can understand a few phrases and where I'll actually know what food I'm ordering.

Now, to leave you all with an amusing story. So, on our first outing to the Louvre we had to walk through a park to get to the Louvre. On this stretch to the Louvre stood a bunch of vendors trying to sell their junk plastic Effile Towers and people trying to scam dumb tourists. I walked past--Kyle didn't. I turned around and noticed him standing with a guy wrapping floss (the kind you use to make friendship bracelets) around his fingers. So I went back. The guy is really friendly--we tell him we are from California he tells us he's from Kenya. Besides that he's gonna demand money for that piece of crap bracelet he is making, he's enjoyable enough to be around, and not yet strange. But then he asked Kyle if I was his wife or his girlfriend. Kyle: "Neither, she's my sister." Kenyan: "Oh, well, she's sexy. Very sexy." And from there the awkwardness ensued. wherever there was a break in the conversation or an awkward pause he'd let out a little "Hakunamatata" or "Boom-jiggy-jiggy, sex machine!". Then he comes over to me to make me a bracelet. Before I can protest he's already hooked the damn thing on my finger.
Kenyan: "So, you have boyfriend?"
Me: "No."
Kenyan: "Oh, then girlfriend. Lesbian!!"
Me: "No, not lesbian."
Kenyan: "But you are from California!! So lesbian!"
...then after all this strangeness the guy tried to demand 5 euros for these bracelets that had about 10 cents of material in them. I gave him 1.20 and told him that was all we had. He was not pleased. Oh, well.