Last day in Paris. C'est la vie.

And now, the grand Parisian finale. We hit all of the big sites, enjoy some crack laced hot chocolate, and even get a mugging!

Our morning started with a walk to the Paris Visitor's center on Rue de Clair while eating our morning pan du chocolate (and coke light for the other 3). Since I washed Pam's pass the evening before and it was still *kind* of readable, we thought we'd see if we could trade it out for a new pass. We get to the shop and I got distraced by Pashmina scarves. While I browsed, the other 3 headed to another visitor's center for help. I finally met up with the 3 about 5 blocks down where I am informed that, not only did the pass *not* get replaced, but Jason had his Coke Light stolen. I wasn't there, so please bear with my story telling. Apparently some large man came up to Jason and kept pointing at his Coke Light saying "check me? You have Coke Light?" The other 2 kept walking, but Jason was confused and *couldn't* move foward. Jason held his pop out and said, "Yes, Coke Light"- and the guy grabbed it and sauntered off. Granted Jason had already drank out of it... weird.

We went to the Arc de Triumph early this morning in hopes to beat the line. Paris Museum Pass- we love you. We got to jump to the front of the line with the pass and climb the steps to the top (Pam stayed at the bottom with our bags- she's not a stairs person). We got to the top, and what a gorgeous view! Its neat how there are "spokes" (roads) that come out of the Arc area and stretch across the city.

Justin, Jason and I made our way down and the four of us headed to our date with the Eiffel Tower. On the way, Pam stopped to use one of the public toilets by the tower- it's one stall, and it cleans itself after every use. Pam was in line while a guy was in the bathroom. There was a woman off to the side, looking at souvineirs. When he got out, the woman tried to cut Pam off and get in the bathroom. Pam was yelling in English, the woman in French, and the guy kept saying "she is with me! she was in line!"-- which she wasn't. The lady then went in before Pam, and we continued to wait- and learn "bad words" in French in case something like this happened again. We finally left and went to the Tower It was almost too crowded to enjoy, but we made the best of it. We started on the 2nd floor and grabbed tickets for the top floor- the sign on the ground level said that the top was closed, but that was apparently false. We got into a 2nd elevator and made it to the top- WOW. What a view! It was cold and windy (good thing I stopped for those scarves earlier!), but the view was amazing. About an hour later, we finally made it down from the tower and were bombarded by people trying to sell us Eiffel Tower keychains. Funny note- Maureen gave me one of those keychains a few years ago and I have it on my flash drive. I thought I was special, but those things were 10 for 1€! It's the thought that counts- plus she got me a shot glass and a pashmina scarf, but I digress...

The 4 of u went to lunch where I had my first Monsieur Croquet- its a ham and cheese sandwich, grilled with cheese on the top AND with a fried egg. I will be having one of these sandwiches daily now! After stuffing ourselves, we hit the Louvre. Holy. Overwheming. Again, I'm not much of an art person, but I did enjoy it, thanks to the Rick Steves tour. I saw all of the highlights- the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc- and really enjoyed it. I only made it through 1 wing(there are 3), so it looks like I will have to come back and see the other 2 soon.

After the Louvre, I stopped for a hot chocolate at Angelina's per Maureen's request. It was like the melted heaven and poured it in a cup. It was a splurge (4€ for a small cup), but it was worth it. The boys didn't care for it, and Pam thought it tasted like a melted Hershey's Dark bar, but I loved it.

By this point, we were all ready for a nap and dinner. We went to a local restaurant where I learned that "chicken" and "scallops", while completely different foods, looks alarmingly similar on a french menu. They weren't half bad- it was the first time I had scallops. As we were finishing up our meal, the bartender came up to check on us and saw Pam quietly trying to stab Justin with a fork under the table. He told her "No stabbing friends with forks!" then came back to the table with a knife for Justin. As we were leaving, he asked what time it was. I told him 10pm. He said "It's shooter time!" and invited the 4 of us to have a shot (on the house) with him. It was a great way to end the evening.

While Pam went to bed, the boys and I jumped on the Metro and quickly saw the Moulin Rouge and the Pompideau Museum (it i contructed from the inside out- the piping is on the outside). We stopped for crepes from a street vendor and - oops - I ordered a Grand Mariner (I of course pronounced it as mar-i-ner, not the correct way), so I had a crepe with sugar and alcohol. At least it knocked me out when I got back to the hotel!

Some final observations of Paris: Everyone still smokes, which baffles me (like London). Not as many people drink wine as I would have expected. And EVEERYONE carries around baguettes and pastries, just like the movies. It's now onto Rome...!