Jour 2-3

The French are very relational people. Everywhere we turn they are engaged in conversation. Even the single people at the cafe with no one to talk to make conversation with the waiter. We have met nothing but friendly faces. We ate dinner at a cafe a block from the Notre Dame on the river Seine and had an afternoon espresso in the gardens of Versailles. Versailles is the creation of a very mad French king, Louis XIV, who nearly bankrupted and entire country building his dream home. It is lavish to say the very least, anything we have yet seen in Paris pales in comparison to this magnificent abode. I would suggest typing Chateaux Versailles into google images to see where we spent our afternoon. We saw the city from above atop the Arc de Triomphe yesterday. It's the first thing anyone should do when visiting Paris. Napoleon had many of the nearby buildings demolished to make all of the surrounding streets lead directly to the Arc. Traffic bustles below as 10 or so streets end, spitting cars into an almost comical flow of circling traffic all trying to avoid being stuck on the inside track. We walked down the Champs Elysses to the Louvre which houses more incredible art than anyone needs to see in a lifetime. I'm still not quite sure why the Mona Lisa, a homely basket weaver(she seems like one anyway), is so famous but it was still surreal to get to see her in person. Tomorrow, to la Tour Eiffel as we spend our last full day in Paris.