And from the Pantheon, we could see the Eiffel Tower, now lit up in the distance.

Eric decided to stay in the hotel, but I headed back out to do some more wandering. Here is Notre Dame at night.

A blurry view of the back of Notre Dame at night. After this, it started raining.

I made it over to the Bastille, seen here in the rain, and then I wandered around until I found my way back to the hotel.

The next day we woke up bright and early and headed for the Louvre. On the way, we crossed the Seine.

Approaching the pyramid at the Louvre, which is the main entrance.

In line at the Louvre.

Underneath the pyramid.

Inside, we started in the French sculpture section.

The 'Tomb of Philippe Pot.'

Detail of some sort of sculpture.

An hour and a half later, we were still in the French sculpture section, which is really only about a fourth of one of the four floors of the Louvre.

We decided to move on to the Mesopotamian artifacts. Here is the Hammurabi Stone.

In the Antique Iran area, we encountered this pilla from the Capital of Apadana.

And in the Pharaonic Egypt section were various sarcophogi.

Moving into the Greek Antiquities, there was a huge crowd around this statue of Aphrodite, known as 'Venus de Milo.'

This was also a popular one, 'The Winged Victory of Samothrace.'

In Roman Antiquities was the 'Borghese Gladiator.'

And in Italian Sculptures was 'The Dying Slave,' by Michelangelo.

Up one floor was the most famous painting in the world, 'Mona Lisa' by da Vinci, and of course, no pictures were allowed.

The 'Mona Lisa' room was a madhouse. Here people are streaming out of the exit.

This tremendous hall leads away from the 'Mona Lisa' and is full of Italian paintings.

Later on, we encountered some Napoleonic apartments.

Napolean had it pretty good.

I can only imagine the kind of food that was served at that table.

Six or so hours after we entered, we emerged from the Louvre and headed back to the Left Bank toward the Eiffel Tower.

A monument, apparently to peace, enroute to the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower, from Ecole Militaire.

Of course, we walked toward the Eiffel Tower. Who wouldn't? Here is a closer look.

Me, in front of the Eiffel Tower.

A still-closer view of the Eiffel Tower.

And still closer.

And now so close that I couldn't fit the whole thing in view. The plaza under the Tower was pretty busy.

A look up from underneath the Eiffel Tower.

Back toward the way we came from the other side of the Eiffel Tower.

Ow.

Across the river from the Tower is the Palais de Chaillot.

The Eiffel Tower, from the Palais de Chaillot.

Another shot from the Palais de Chaillot.

Next, we hopped on a metro and headed out to La Defense, the huge new downtown area a little ways away from most of the main attractions.