Top 10 Signs You Have been at the Louvre Too Long

10. The clock said 645 am when you left the apartment and said 1015 when you got home and you are not sure what the weather was.
9. You were the third person in line and had already walked the Tuileries Gardens (avoiding the deeply sheltered places for safety), taken pictures of Place du Concorde (the fountain where Andy,s phone ends up in the Devil Wears Prada - Eden calls this the step shoe movie), found out that the bathrooms in the Tuilleries do not open until 11 but the cafe across the street will take pity on a hopping Canadian women if she buys a petit cafe (a hit of caffiene that gets you through the next three hours)
8. You got pictures of the Tuilleries, Pyramid and buildings of the Louvre with no tourists in them
7. You found out how popular the Tuilleries are for running and laughed when you thought of your running gear that had not seen the light of day since morning one - you have walked so far that you are now medicating yourself every 4 hours;
6. You saw the ticket area of the Louvre without people in it and on the same day, the Mona Lisa at night without having to kill young to get to the front
5. You had to return your audio tour set for the Louvre 3 times to the desk (they only stay charged a maximum of 3 hours)
4. You know that there is A Virgin Music Store close to the Louvre because your memory card that was empty this morning was full by afternoon and the young guard you asked told you they sold it and where to find it (the old guy didn't know whqt it was - remember questions on tech to those 25 and under) but they will not take a credit card (without a chip) without ID and you left your ID at the desk as collateral for your audio tour machine that is still swinging wildly about your sweaty neck as you look for a cash machine because they will not take your bank card without a chip either.............god, only me
3. You have given more than 50 (American tourists) the shortcut to the Mona Lisa and earned the thanks of Louvre staff with limited English, they are thinking of hiring you when you move to Paris for at least one year after you retire as you promised yourself on your first day here.
2. You know the route from the Louvre to the apartment and back and can make it in less than 30 minutes after the new memory card is installed and your battery promptly died - the only thing that saved you from tears was the knowledge that Logan had a charged battery back there, you could eat something (because you will not spend another 14 Euros on a roll, salad and a tart like you did at lunch by eating in the Louvre) and the promise of drugs for your aching back and feet (tylenol is not available in France but Ibuprofen is)
1. In spite of everything you read and know about the Louvre you DID see everything you wanted to see (except the Asian, Mesopotamian and Egyptian crap - who cares about that?......... just plan a trip to Egypt next!) and you have the map, marked in pen outlining the areas you have visited to prove it (filled in during the overpriced lunch while listening to the audio commentary on the parts of the Louvre you would not visit while sitting in a cafeteria at a table with 12 other people who inched away slowly to avoid catching the loony bug). What's more, thanks to the live English speaking tour you took in addition to the audio tours you actually have retained some information on the works of art that experts tell us would take us 7 months to see if we stopped and read each plaque for each masterpiece.

So, tick the Louvre off the list - it is funny that I feel so relieved to have it done after walking past if for é days and wondering how I was going to do it. I did it yesterday April 15th. Today we were supposed to go to Versailles but we had our first slightly rainy day and are hoping for better tomorrow for the trip 45 minutes out of Paris so we changed plans and visited the memorial to the Shoah (see next entry) and Notre Dame and did some shopping for loved ones back home.

Love to you all especially Teagan and Eden for being such great kids for Grandma and Grandpa

Kim