January 1

It was supposed to be an early morning, but we slept in a bit, and then got on the internet to see what was open today. Ginny & Sara had headed down to get some breakfast, but we were being slow, and couldn't find them once we were ready. Brendan & I bought some croissants and juice and headed toward the Eiffel Tower. The line to go up was snaking all over the ground and so we just took a few pictures and decided to come back another time.

We hopped back on the Metro and went to the Jardin du Luxembourg. Before entering the gates, we munched on a burger at Quick, which is the big MacDonalds competitor. The burgers were very tasty. We entered the garden, which was still lush and green despite the chilly winter weather. We followed a recommended path in my map book. A small tangent...I carried "The Paris MapGuide" with me everywhere and it was very useful. Follow this link if you are interested. We started by walking by the Medici Fountain which was beautiful, then we got a good view of the Palais du Luxembourg. Also saw a bust of Beethoven and a mini statue of liberty. It was neat how hundreds of Parisians were exercising and sunning themselves in chairs, though it was chilly out. We also saw a game of petaque being played.

We hopped the Metro again and headed to the Centre Georges Pompidou. It's a really neat looking building with these hamster-tube-looking escalators on the outside. Though it was crowded inside, the line was not too bad. We saw a Rauchenburg exhibit that was very extensive, then a restrospective of Yves Klein. I don't really have an appreciation of Klein...I mean he was obsessed with the color blue and painted several plain blue canvasses. I guess it was special at the time!

We headed to the hotel and met up with Sara & Ginny. They were getting some take-out sandwiches and chilling at the hotel, so Brendan and I headed out to a Chinese restaurant we saw in Fodors. It was right off the Champs-Elysees. I had some yummy coconut chicken that was served in a coconut. Steamed rice was extra. It was my favorite meal so far. We also ran into this loud girl from Birmingham...she gave us some good restaurant tips. We headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.