This entry is for Monday, October 20, 2025.

The gang had mixed sleep results Sunday night, with jet lag hitting some worse than others. But we made it out of the apartment by 8:45 as planned.

We got metro passes for the week for me, Sherry, and Mark, and made our way to the Louvre.

You may have heard that it was robbed yesterday and closed because of it.

We had 9:30 tickets but saw people with 9am tickets still in line and nothing was moving. See above with Ash, Sherry, and Mark in line. It is still one of my favorite spots on the planet. It was fun to see Sherry and Mark’s amazement at what they were seeing – with Mark literally in tears he was so overwhelmed by the immensity and beauty of it. Some people say the d’Orsay is a better museum but I’m not one of them. They both have their place. But alas, they wouldn’t find out today. About 10am they announced that it wouldn’t be opening.

So we decided to explore my favorite straight line on the planet: from the Louvre through the Arc de Triomphe to the Grand Arche in La Defense.

Sherry and Mark in the Tuileries, with Concorde and the Arc very small behind them.

At Concorde we picked up the metro and made our way to La Defense- end of the M1 line.

We got back on the subway and got off at the Arc.

We started walking up what we thought was the Champs Elysees. Nothing looked right and it took us longer than it should have to figure out we were on the “other” side of the Arc which is actually Grand Armee. So we hopped in the metro 2 stops and were back where we wanted.

We decided lunch was in order so were on the lookout for a place to stop.

I got French onion soup. Sherry had a croque monsieur, Ash and Mark had chicken sandwiches. I forgot to take photos of theirs, sorry!

Mark decided to go back and rest more after lunch. We found an On Running store and got Ash some much needed shoes and me a hoody sort of shirt.

Laduree is known for macarons so we made a stop for snacks for later.

Sherry had an errand to run in the Latin Quarter so we made our way there over Pont Alexandre III, considered the prettiest bridge in Paris.

After it was raining and we made our way home to rest up before dinner.

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We left for dinner around 6:20.

Bofinger is literally around the corner from the apartment, maybe 2 blocks away. It’s been here since 1864.

It’s a beautiful place with a classic feel to the ambiance. Including white table cloths and napkins and staff in tuxedos.

Profiteroles for me for dessert.

Mark stayed back to rest. Ash went to bed when we got back to our room. Jon, Sherry and I took Zeus for a walk since he had been stuck inside most of the day. We made our step goal of over 20k.

And now it’s bedtime. Not much planned tomorrow except the d’Orsay.