Return from Paris

Yesterday we returned from a weekend visit to beautiful Paris, France, home of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Notre Dame, Napoleon's Tomb, and of course, french bread. Sacré bleu! The City of Light was marvelous to behold, even if we did occasionally walk past "fashionable" men carrying man purses and wearing bug-eyed sunglasses.

We saw all of the above sights and more...

• We witnessed a french grandmother nearly lay a french style whooping on some fellow tourists ("Pardon, monsieur! J'ai dit pardon, monsieur!").
  
• We heard what was either an artistic monologue or a touching sob story from a guy on the subway, who completed a lengthy speech to the entire car and then collected money from the passengers. (We can only be thankful his translated monologue was not, "Give me your money or I will kill you all.")
  
• We visited yet another US Embassy - the best yet - with its concealed location, wrought iron security fence, stone road barricades, army of nearly 10 french guards, and a bizarre no pictures policy. With all of these features, the US Embassy proudly proclaims, "Coming near here is an act of terrorism." (Meanwhile, the Romanian embassy's doors were wide open even after dark. I suspect they were serving drinks inside.)
  
• I have never started a day and thought, "Gee, it sure would be interesting to see the Pink Panther hugging a naked mermaid." (OK, maybe just one time...) I especially didn't expect to see their warm embrace on my tour of the Palace of Versailles - but it happened. I swear.
  
• And most importantly, we almost saw Madonna. Almost.
  

Stay tuned for the pièce de résistance!