Day 48: Musée du Louvre

Sunday, October 13th

We check out of Hotel Hǐro today and head to our next stop. We found a hotel called Astotel Paris 34B. It is so cute inside. Everything is red, white, and blue, designed after the France flag. They even have a gym and sauna. Everyday they have complimentary snacks and coffee in the lounge from 2pm-2am.

We drop our bags and head to the do a little exploring before our ticket time slot at the Louvre, which is at 2 o’clock. We pass by one of my favorite European stores called Mango. I find a nice peacoat and we get some scarves. We then head to the Louvre. It was more packed than I ever remember before. It was slightly uncomfortable with the amount of people there. I knew it would be crowded by the Mona Lisa, but the entire museum was crowded. Finally, near the France sculptures it wasn’t as bad. You can enjoy the art and take it all in. Both of our favorite parts of the Louvre were Napoleon’s apartments. The chandeliers and all the fine details are just amazing and everything is so luxurious. We also got to see The Venus de Milo, countless Greek sculptures, The Winged Victory of Samothrace, Cupid, many Egyptian pieces, and so much more. It truly is unbelievable, all of the paintings and sculptures made so many years ago before cameras existed. Despite all the crowds we still had an amazing time. After the Louvre, we got some fun photos outside and enjoyed our time in the park, taking in the views of the Arc, the Louvre itself, and the Eiffel Tower in the distance. It was truly an amazing day. We walked back towards our hotel and grabbed dinner at La Porte Montmartre. We had a lively waiter who spoke broken English, yet still got our order perfectly and was such a delight. No matter where you go in the world, and despite language barriers, kindness always gets the job done. As we were eating dinner, a fight broke out behind us. We joked with our waiter and said we got dinner & a show with front row seats. He said it’s not the Moulin Rouge though. It was just some random man with one of the waiters. Apparently he tried to dine and dash, so of course the waiter called him out on it.

We went on a nice little stroll and then headed in for the night. We popped on Rings of Power for just a little bit and fell asleep fast. We got almost 27,000 steps today, so we were definitely beat!

My highlight today was seeing all the sculptures and taking in all the beauty with Christopher. Everything is a million times better when you’re doing it with the person you love. I remember one of my best friends Kourtney said to me a long time ago, how she knows I enjoy being single and I enjoy life so much, but it can be EVEN BETTER with the right person. Now, I couldn’t imagine a single day of my life without Christopher. I always joke and say we are attached at the hip. Even when we are at home, we work together, workout together, go on walks together, etc. Somehow we don’t get sick of each other, and we never fight. Sure, he has his golf days with just the boys and occasional trips, and I have girls days or nights, but life is truly better with your best friend by your side. There’s no place I would ever want to go without him.

Christopher’s highlight was seeing a mummy in the Egyptian section. It was CRAZY!!! The detail of how this body was hand wrapped is incredible. It was a bit freaky, and I joked how this was some true Halloween decoration!