We had planned to go to Paris by train but then decided on Ryan Air. Ive flown on it before and know that it is like a cattle car, that and flying in and out of inconvenient airports, but that was what we decided to do. It actually cost about the same as a train ticket and after calculating the time involved from start to finish, the time was about the same. But then on the plus side we went to Venice (the island) and gave Zaya the gondola ride shed wanted.
1st thing in the morning we had tickets for the Louvre. Id thought that with the crowds down, maybe we could see the Mona Lisa after all.
As it turned out, there were only small lines to see the Mona Lisa, we saw her first, read what was written then went back and viewed her again.
The Louvre is quite large with lots of levels. With stairs going up and down we finally found our way to the apartments of Napoleon. We decided that
From the apartment rooms of Napoleon, we were trying to find our way to the caf for a cup of coffee and to just sit for a few minutes. Wed discussed with Zaya where wed go. All of the sudden groups of school kids came along and we couldnt find Zaya. Shed taken our map and we thought that maybe shed gone on ahead. After looking around for her and not seeing her anywhere, we went on to the Caf with lots of wrong turns, got our coffee convinced that wed see Zaya at any minute.
After waiting for a little while, I went and checked the stairs, certain that wed see her, but then thought that Id alert the staff that she wasnt with us and not showing up.
Finally, our son Nate called. Zaya knew his number and the staff called him. The staff was already aware that she was missing. Zaya was safe at the lost persons kiosk at the entry.
Fortunately, Kim was just outside the area and had wanted back into the Louvre (shed left by mistake) so she was
able to rescue Zaya. Poor Zaya, she was so upset. But it was a good lesson in how not to get separated.
