Our last day

Wednesday in Paris. Our last day. MerryLeigh and I spent most of the day getting lost in the Louvre. Really. If you were there, you probably saw us huddled in every corner, sitting on every bench, turning our maps this way and pointing that way, or turning our maps that way and pointing our fingers this way. We could never figure out which floor we were on. And we were there for hours. But we made our way through it and saw our favorites. ML had to see the Mona Lisa. I wanted to see Vermeer (not much of him to see there, I'm sad to say). Loved the Dutch painters. We did make our way down to the lower level and wander around the medieval remains of the original structure. Totally cool. I'm glad we went, probably won't ever do it again. I found the Musee D'Orsay so much more enjoyable. Lunch at a creperie, shop at a fromagerie for gifts, hope they're not confiscated at customs.

Later in the evening, a frantic clean-up of the apartment, wash the sheets, write a thank-you, contact a taxi via skype (in my broken French--but they understood) because we have no phone, up at 4:30 a.m., out on the street at 10 til 5. Taxi waiting, we rush to Charles DeGaulle. A kiss-kiss, as the French do, to MerryLeigh, she's on a later flight. I'm in the air at 7:30.

I'm home now, fromage intact, after a harrowing day. The harrowing part was arriving in the Atlanta airport. What an affront, to be yelled at continually by the security personnel after having had such a gracious time in France.

Now to my 400 emails (most of which are offers for viagra) and carton full of mail. Bills to pay, messages to return, daughters, sisters and Dad to call, catch up on some sleep. Tomorrow I start digging into my photos of France to paint. I can't wait.