Going off only 3 hours of sleep (I can't seem to kick the jet lag!), we got to the Louvre before opening time and before the crowds. Thanks to Rick Steve's Louvre audio tour (highly recommended!), we survived the Louvre and learned a bit about the different pieces of artwork along the way. The Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo are shown below.
We lived like Parisians today and ate a picnic of baguette sandwiches across from the Arc du Carrousel. I love the tomatoes in France! They are so fresh here! Growing up, I used to hate raw tomatoes (and I still sometimes cringe at the sight of sun dried tomatoes!).
The Musée de l'Orangerie was our next stop. It had 2 large pretty impressive rooms covered in wall-to-wall paintings of Monet's water lilies. If you visit Paris and have the Paris Museum Pass (highly recommended!), visit the 2 rooms of Monet's painting for just a few minutes and skip the rest of the museum.
We walked the Champs-Elysées on our way to the Arc de Triomphe. Along the way, we stopped at Ladurée for some macaroons and a tarte tartin. The line was soooo long; we must've waited at least a good half hour before getting to the front of the line to put in our order... but it was soooo worth it. The chocolate and pistache macaroons were amazing! The chocolat macaroon reminded me of the smooth, rich taste of a brownie (but so much better!!). They were chewy on the inside with such perfect, delicate shells. I'd have to say the pistache was my favorite... so good I can't even describe it! The tarte tartin was even better (according to Quinn). I could only have a few bites because it was so sweet, but it was like goodness on top of caramel goodness. I couldn't hear myself think because Quinn was raving on and on about how he'd never had anything so good in his entire life.
We reached the Arc de Triomphe, climbed the 284 steps to the top, and took in the panoramic views of Paris. It's definitely worth a quick trip to the top. 
Pedometer count for the day: 8+ miles!
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