After two planes and two trains we have arrived outside of the office where we will pick up the keys to our rental apartment.  It is raining, but still very nice in Paris. Our only challenge? There is no one in the office for us to get keys. We are fortunate in that there are several free WiFi signals available. On accessing one, we are able to send an email to the person we were to meet. after 15 minutes with no avail, we use the wifi signal to make a Skype phone call. That seems to work. We are taken to our flat, and it is a wonderful unit on the 5th floor above the bustling sixth arrondissement street, Rue de Buci. A quick unpack later, we are out for a long evening stroll along the Seine.

This morning began with a running tour of Paris. In 6 miles of running, and 3 miles of walking, we were able to see the cathedral at Notre Dame, the Tulleries, the Champs-Elysées, Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel tower, Musee d’Orsay, and many beautiful Ponts, etc. Take that Hop on Hop off! Our tour didn’t cost 29 Euros AND was a great warm up for the Camino!

This afternoon will be filled with more exploring and tomorrow, we’ll actually go INSIDE some of these sights we ran by!  No drive by tourists here!

Over the last 24 hours, we’ve actually gone inside the buildings! Yesterday afternoon was the Louvre, today was the Musee d’Orsay. While absolutely fascinating, both Diane and I have realized that we are each good for only about 3 hours in a museum at a time.  Even with that constraint, we we’d still able to see a lifetime of amazing art.

This morning began with a run to, then through, the Luxembourg gardens. That was beautiful and a great place to run! We weren’t the only runners with that idea. There were 100’s of joggers there.

This afternoon was the Orsay, then another great walk on the Seine.  On feature of all the bridges (ponts) is that there are locks plastered on all the railings. It is purportedly to lock in your love in Paris” … or something. Whatever it is, it is popular!