October 11, 2012- Paris

Breakfast at the hotel.

Louvre Entrance

Bus ride to Lourve for Express Tour. Got to see several Greek sculptures, painting of Napoleon's Coronation by Jacques- Louis David, and the Mona Lisa.

Coronation of Napoleon

Mona Lisa

Jardin Des Tuileries

Leaving the Louvre is was raining. We did a quick tour of Jardin Des Tuileries right outside the Louvre which was still beautiful even in the rain.

During the afternoon we toured Musee D'Orsay which features works from some of the most famous impressionist painters: Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Renoit and Degas. This museum was much smaller and more managable than the Louvre which was pretty overwhelming. It was incredible to see these paintings up close. You could really study the brush strokes. This was a highlight of the trip for me.

Met back up with the group to get on City Rama guided tour including a bus.

First stop, dinner at the Eiffel Tour.

Dinner at Tour d'Eiffel





Was great to be with the group which had already book reservations. We moved to the front of the line and up elevator to 2nd level for dinner. Dinner was very nice: froie de gras, chicken and potatos and desert. Wonderful Bordeaux wine was included. View was fantastic. It rained pretty heavily while we were there, but had cleared up by the time we left.

Next stop- River boat tour on the Seine river. This was really nice. Saw Notre Dame eluminated as well as other buildings on West Bank.

Seine River boat tour

Next stop- Moulin Rouge. We had tickets for show starting a 11:30 pm. I was getting pretty tired. Exterior features the famous wind-mill on the roof. Inside was crowded with individual tables like a dinner theater. A glass of champagne was included with the ticket. Additional drinks were VERY expensive. Dancing girls costumes were very elaborate and most dances featured topless dancers. They did do a can-can or two. I enjoyed the fill-in acts the best. During costume changes, acrobats, jugglers and comedians did short acts which were more interesting than the dances. Show was over after 1 am. City Rama bus drove us back to the hotel. We were all exhausted!