Paris France, Saturday, June 18, 2011

It is raining again so we stay in the apartment this morning since Edward is still not feeling well and we don’t want to get caught in the rain.  Later in the afternoon we venture out as the sun is shining.  I am having some problems with my  iPad so we decide to go to the Apple store near the Louvre and stop at a museum.  On the way to the Apple Store we see an Alsace Tourist fair.  We get some info and they were very helpful. 

Alsace Tourist Information booth

Some girls in traditional dress.

The green car is with a group of other Smart Cars.  The cars are covered in something grassy looking.  I don’t know what they were selling, protesting, etc.  Always something in Paris.

We still have not found the Apple Store.  Finally we stop at a phone store that sells iPhones and the guy says “it is just down the street 5 minutes on the left” (from the direction we just came from) .  We go back.  Well about 15 minutes walking for us we finally find the address but it says La Carrousel du Louvre.  We go inside and find out you go down some escalators and it is a giant shopping center under the Louvre.  We find the Apple Store in this center.  They are helpful at Apple but cannot fix my problem.  I think I will have to call the Verizon Support.  Verizon recently changed the email design and now there is something not working correctly with the iPad.

.  Edward in the Mall under the Louvre

The Pyramid at the Louvre

We walk through the Jardin de Tuileries next to the Louvre.  The kids are sailing wooden sailboats on the pond and lots of people strolling in the gardens. 

As we are getting near the Plaza Concorde we see 100’s – no 1,000’s of motorcycles., estimate is 10,000 motorcycles.  Reminded us of the 100 Anniversary Harley Parade in Milwaukee.  They are protesting lane splitting (going between cars which is tolerated now) and other reasons.  Earlier in the day they completely closed one side of the ring road around Paris and now they are blocking the Metro Station.  Of course, we were right in the middle of the whole thing.  As it turned out there was no violence or disruptions. 

Motorcycles protesting new laws on the Concorde Bridge and Concorde Metro Station.

We find the art museum we were going to visit and it is 5:57 pm and they close at 6:00 pm.  We will have to come back another time.  It is starting to rain again so we scurry off to find a restaurant to wait for the rain to stop.  We have a nice meal at a restaurant on rue Saint Germaine.  After dinner the rain has stopped and we make our way back to the apartment.