I still can’t believe that I’m in Paris.

When I look out my apartment window, I see a museum and 1800-year-old Roman ruins. When I walk down the street, I see example after example of beautiful architecture. When I peruse the street shops, I find multitudes of delicious foods, all prepared to look oh-so scrumptious. When I go out to eat, I find real cloth napkins, quality wine glasses, and a delectable menu — at every corner cafe.

This morning, Tyler, Krystal, and I went for a jog around Old Paris. I think that I was under the impression that it would be a short jog, perhaps a couple of miles. The “short jog” turned into a journey from the apartment to the Eiffel Tower and back again. Direct, those two locations are about 3.5 km from each other. With our route, which could be considered somewhat less than direct, each leg of the journey was between four and five kilometers. Depending on the exact distance, that means that I ran between five and six miles round-trip. Regardless of the precise distance, that was the farthest that I have ever run. In fact, that was about twice as far as I have ever run.

After our run, we picked up some croissants and went back to the apartment to eat them with jam and orange juice. Initially, we planned to go to the catacombs today. However, due to the splendid weather (and the fact that the catacombs are closed on Mondays), we decided to visit Eiffel Tower (formally this time) and the Arc de Triomphe. We also planned to visit the Louvre Museum in the evening, as admission is free for those under 26 on Monday nights.

This time we took the subway to the Eiffel tower. Although it was somewhat cold and extremely windy, the Eiffel Tower top was definitely worth the cost. It was a relatively clear, albeit hazy, day, so we could see for many miles in every direction. I got some decent photos of the city, which made me happy, then we all went down the tower.

We walked to our next stop, the Arc de Triomphe. It took us a little while to figure out that the Arc must be accessed via tunnel. Once there, we were all somewhat underwhelmed by the Arc. Sure, it was neat to look at, and the carvings were very complex and well-done, but it just seemed to pale in comparison to the other buildings we had seen.

After clicking off some snapshots at the Arc, we hopped a subway back to the apartment. We dropped some things off at the residence, then set out in search of sustenance. Food came in the form of lunch from an Italian restaurant. The restaurant was a site of several firsts for me: it was the first time that I had pizza as a part of a three-course meal, it was the first time that I drank wine with pizza, and It was the first time that I ate an entire (small) pizza with a fork and knife. The food was great, and the red Bordeaux wine paired nicely with the pizza. To top it all off, they even accepted American Express.

Following lunch, we went to a small grocery store and picked up some random good-looking (i.e., still in the rind) cheeses and an appetizing jam. A quick stop at the bakery for some baguettes completed our shopping, leaving us just enough time to drop off our new foodstuffs before heading to the Louvre.

Depending on who one asks, one will find many different schools of though on the correct pronunciation of ‘Louvre.’ Some claim that it has two syllables, as in “loove-rah.” Others think that it should be “loovr.” It turns our that the correct pronunciation is “loove.” One syllable, rhymes with “groove.” Yes Ted, you were right.

The Louvre was spectacular. It seemed as though their collections stretched to infinity. Everything from Egyptian mummies to medieval castles to Italian paintings finds a home in the massive stone building. We saw the essentials: the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. The former was crowded by tourists with flashing cameras, while the latter seemed sadly underappreciated. We walked around for several hours, contemplating and admiring the various paintings and sculptures. I found the building itself to be quite a work of art. I particularly enjoyed the ceilings near the large-canvas paintings: the ceilings were decorated with a dazzling multitude of ornate carvings and paintings.

Eventually, we returned to the apartment and collapsed. My gosh, that was a lot of walking.

On the docket for tomorrow: Versailles.