Early Sunday morning we headed to the Eurostar station to catch our train to Paris. The security and wait time was so much nicer than flying. Once on the train, we read books and chatted at the countryside flew by. It really was a rather comfortable ride and we saw some beautiful scenery.
As the train pulled into the station, the announcer on the train switched to French only (a sign of what was yet to come) We got out of the station and wandered around until we found out hotel. It was really close to the station which was awesome. Our room was on the 6th floor and was a mansion compared to our tiny room in London. There were two rooms with a large bed in one and a smaller bed and sink area in the other. It was great to be able to move around the room without falling on each other. The one downside was that the Grand Hotel Magenta did not provide free showers. By the last day, the man at the desk offered us a discount as we had not yet used the shower key. Needless to say the first thing we did in Brugge was shower. 
After resting from a long morning of travel, we decided to head to the Louvre. It is free the 1st Sunday of each month, so we figured we would hit it up. The metro in Paris was a lot harder to figure out than in London and it smelled really bad. I don't think the French know about deodorant yet as we smelled better than most (even after day five with no shower). Luckily, the Louvre and most of the downtown Paris sights were on the same line and only two stops away.When we surfaced after our Metro ride I looked around trying to guess which building was the Louvre. It is amazing that no matter how many travel books you read, you still have no idea what to expect. We finally spotted the distinct glass pyramid and headed in. The place was crowded, but once we got into the exhibits it wasn't too bad.
I don't know how to explain everything we saw in the Louvre. Of course there is the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo and countless other famous works. Tim really liked the statues and the "old stuff." I couldn't name a favorite, it was all too amazing. I think seeing it all at one time makes it hard to appreciate it, but it would also be hard to spend a week there. 
Another thing that made it hard, was that all the signs and descriptions were in French only. So if I didn't know who the painter was and the story behind the art it didn't mean a lot.One thing we were surprised by, was how cool the building itself was. Serving as a fortress, prison, palace, and museum; the building had quite the history and we often caught ourselves staring at the ceilings and walls instead of the paintings.
We stayed at the Louvre, until we got kicked out at closing time. We then walked across the river to the St. Michelle area. It was booming with life with street vendors along the river, cafes everywhere, and tons of people. Here I tried my first banana-nutella crepe (as suggested by Marissa). They were everything she claimed it to be and I already miss them. After dinner, we strolled around the area and then headed back home very tired.
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