Visiting Paris during the last few days leading up to the final World Cup rugby game, in which England was playing having just beaten France in the semi-finals, and during a metro strike is not the best timing, but it's the only timing we had to work with, so c'est la vie! Here's a quick summary and some pics.

Thursday: arrived midday and walked from train station to hotel and then hotel (near Bastille) to the Notre Dame, where we did a quick tour of the interior. Grabbed a cab to the Eiffel Tower where we waited in an impossibly long queue to go to the top - great views, almost freakish to be up that high and feel like so little is beneath you, cold up there! Found a friendly restaurant for dinner near the hotel. Upon recommendation from the waiter, I had sausage and aligot. Aligot is a dish traditionally made in the Auvergne region of France made of melted Tomme cheese blended into mashed potatoes, often with some garlic. Really, a French version of Bangers and Mash, but don’t tell the French I said that. Ira had steak tartare, raw not "click-clack," which was the waiter's way of describing seared. Back to the hotel after dinner and pooped, as usual!

Friday: Walked to the Mussee de Picasso which was very close to the hotel. This is a small gem that most people probably miss. Cool building, not crowded, and very informative movie interview with William Rubin of NY MoMA. Then... to the Louvre - Ira's much anticipated destination. After, walked all the way up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe - a deceivingly long way due to the fact that the Arc is HUGE and continues to look like it's "just a little further" the entire time.

Saturday: Musee d’Orsay – very cool building, but also littered with obnoxious picture-taking tourists. How about just simply enjoying the art in person? A concept lost on most, sadly. Best quote of the day (with Texan accent): “Hey hon, want to get a picture with Whistler’s mother?” (insert image of Ira pretending to be Canadian…) Metro (now running, just in time to get everyone to the rugby game?) back to Nord, with just enough time to spend our last euros on goodies at a patisserie before catching train back to London.

--- Notre Dame detail ---

--- setting sun over the Seine from the first level of the Eiffel Tower ---

--- recognize that famous pattern? ---

--- Ira finally gets to go to the Louvre - does he look happy or what? ---

--- artsy Arc de Triomphe ---

--- need I say more? ---