A Day In Paris

So, my flight was leaving at 9am from Paris to New York…I am ready, heading out the door of the hotel when my cell phone rings. It’s my wife, calling to tell me that Delta just called the house to inform her/me that the flight has been delayed until 6PM that evening. So here I am, dressed and ready to go with a full day in front of me (I had arrived the evening before so did not get an opportunity to sightsee). So immediately I hop on my laptop and go to the website for the Louvre Museum to see what the hours are. I have time for breakfast and then decide to go and see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo (among other treasures).

After breakfast, I head down to the concierge and ask for walking directions to the Louvre. I make the mistake of mispronouncing the word “Louvre” (I pronounced it “loov”). The concierge stares at me blankly and tells me he does not understand what I am looking for. We clear that up, and I head on my way. For what it’s worth, the people outside of Paris are truly wonderful, friendly and gracious.

Anyway, I walk over, and the place is truly massive. It would take days, if not weeks to truly take advantage of everything that the museum has to offer, but I am on a mission and head straight for the Mona Lisa. Well, here she is. It’s funny, I have always heard that it is much smaller than one might think, but I did not find that to be true. It was surrounded by people and security and you were kept at an arms length by ropes, but everyone got a chance to see what they came to see.

Then off to the Venus de Milo, which seemed like about a 3 mile walk! I wanted to see the Eiffel tower as well, so I was short on time….more soon. – Lance Cerutti – www.suburbanwines.com