1 hour out of a 12 hour day (Happy 4th America!!!)

Today was the big day, to explore Paris, as much as we could, stay in the inner city and wait for the lights to come on at the museums and sights we all love and know.We started our day off with a better breakfast then we had expected, and were excited for our day ahead of us, (which was long may I say…reference to the title) We made it quickly to the front entrance of the Louvre, and started to take pictures, when we realized we should probably jump in line, seeing as how we didn’t know how fast it would be to get in. So along the line we went, through gates, through entry ways, and turns to find the end of the line. (oh, p.s. this was outside along the inside of the Louvre, and not a straight line). I decided to time how long it would take us to wait in line and to get our tickets. 1 hour to be exact actually. which wasn’t as bad when you look at it from our point of view, the weather was nice and the nice scenery gave way to a nice time passing.So I’d rather just show you pictures of what I saw in the Louvre, because I underestimated this museum completely, and realized there was so much to see, and you can’t even try to see it all in one day. there are 3 wings to the Louvre, and I made it through one fully, with guides by Rick Steve's, and the other wing was a quick rush, because I wanted to see one piece of work. So here you go!famous entry way of the LouvreOne wing of the LouvreI’m too short!!! I can’t reach the top!Sweet staircase leaving to the upstairsVenus de Milo statueWinged VictoryView from inside the museumLouis XIV crown…. dainty isn’t it?The Mona LisaMy proof… these guys would not move!!My favorite painting and I think the largest canvas in the whole museum. The Crowning of NapoleonMichelangelo’s Dying SlavesP.S. we got really hungry after this huge museum, and had to settle for the in house mall of the Louvre(plus!!) and go to the McDonald's. I do have reasons, it was cheap and quick and it filled my hunger. Oh ya, it was the 4th of July in America too, so we just celebrated what we already knew! Then we headed to go see the Notre Dame, it was so beautiful, I didn’t even take that many pictures because I actually have a lot of respect for this church, just as much as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They also were having mass so it was just nice to sit and listen to them sign in French the words of the Lord.Notre Dame outside viewNotre Dame Inside viewNotre Dame outside viewAs we waited for the sun to set so the Louvre museum lights would come on, we had fun people watching and just enjoying the nice scenery as well. At 10pm we could see the Eiffel tower lit up with a spot light on the top to basically announce it was the most awesome thing to see at night lit up. It was beautiful. Sadly, the Louvre museum triangle lights did not light up tonight, which nobody told us about, or many of the other people sitting down waiting.The Eiffel Tower view from the LouvreHappy 4th of July!! It was a good celebration for me and I think I’m missing America more and more each day… 3 more days and I’m home sweet home