MAY 31, 2025 RICK STEVES Day 13 Parisian Masterpieces

PROPOSED PLAN:

This morning we’re off to the magnificent Louvre Museum. With a smartphone in hand and the Rick Steves Audio Europe™ app, Rick’s voice will guide you through the works of Raphael, Delacroix, and Leonardo and timeless treasures that include Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, Venus de Milo, and hundreds more. The rest of the afternoon is yours to visit museums such as the Orsay, Rodin, and Orangerie, or perhaps take a walk down the Champs-Elysées. Tonight we’ll have our final dinner together, sharing memories and toasting our newly made friends. Salut! 

Moderate walking: 2–6 miles throughout the day with some hills and stairs. No bus. Sleep in Paris.

ACTUAL EVENTS:

An early morning breakfast in the hotel then off to the metro station and headed to the Louvre. Since tickets were purchased ahead of time, we were able to skip the line. Because the Mona Lisa is the exhibit that is most popular, we headed there first, trying to avoid the HUGE crowd. Well, it seemed like a good plan. But we made it in and can say we saw it, along with millions of other folks. Then we wandered through other areas of the museum and marveled at the art. We were free to leave the Louvre at any time and had a free afternoon. After leaving we headed to the Arc de Triomphe. Took a few pics then started walking around in the 8th District. It seemed to be a lot quieter than the area we are staying in. Eventually, we made our way back to our hotel where we rested briefly before meeting up with the gang for our final dinner together. After dinner, Nick and I headed to the Eiffel Tower. There were lots of people out on the streets, many sporting the jersey of the Paris soccer team. Paris is playing Milan in a big game tonight. We are finding out that Parisians take their soccer very seriously. All of the local street cafes had a larger screen TV with standing room only. Every time they score we can hear the fire works. Now that the game is over there are even more fireworks. Paris 5 – Milan 0. Crazy!