Well, we made it to France. The flights and time change required us to stay awake about 32 hours straight (with a few short naps on the plane). But in that 32 hours we saw the museum of Auguste Rodin's sculptures(pictured below with the Eiffel tower in the background) which was fantastic. We also saw a museum of impressionist and post-impressionist art. Then we spent way too much for dinner.

Today we toured the Latin Quarter of the city, including streets that have been in existence since Roman times. We saw two old churches, one that was built in the 13th century and was unfortunately made infamous by Dan Brown in his book The Da Vinci Code (which Mark confesses that he read). Two things have impressed us. One, just about everything is very old and stunningly beautiful. Two, there are a lot of tourists in Paris.

We have been surprised at how pleasant most Parisians are. They tolerate our butchering of French and are quite willingly speak English when they are able.

And the prices! 12 euro (or about $15) for two coffees! 25 euro for "breakfast" (coffee with some bread)!! Tonight we bought cheese and sausage from a vendor in the Latin quarter, bread and wine from a supermarket and ate dinner in our hotel room. We'll venture out again tomorrow night. More to come.