We were supposed to make our way out of the airport via the customs agent. We made our way toward the customs exit, but found that it was closed. We heard one of the agents saying that people should go to number 14... so we followed the crowd that way, but didn't see any exits... after a few trips around the circular concourse, we found our way to the exit, but didn't see a customs agent anywhere, so we cautiously moved into the main area of the airport without being interrogated.

Penny and I travelled by way of minivan into the city, where we found our hotel in the Latin Quarter. We got ourselves cleaned up, and made our way to the Pantheon, which was visible from our hotel room window. It looked to be further away than the 5 minute walk it ended up being... and as we turned the corner and began to walk toward the Pantheon, I took a look in the opposite direction of the monument, and got my first glimpse of the Tour Eiffel. "ONE!" We had both been looking to be the first one to see the Eiffel Tower since we got on the road heading toward the city... but I was first!

The Pantheon was a cool monument to begin the French Experience. Nothing like the Pantheon in Rome, the building began as a cathedral, but has since become a building in homage to those who have made France proud. On the walls you will find paintings in tribute to Jean d'Arc, St. Genevieve and others, while below in the crypts you can find the final resting places of Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and many other scientists, writers and so on. In the main part of the Pantheon, you will find the Foucault Pendulum, which helped to prove that the Earth rotates. Still a church of sorts, but it's a civic church, in praise of those Frenchmen who have made the France a better country, and the world a better place.

After our visit here, we made our way to the Jardins du Luxembourg, which was also pretty close to our hotel... The park was truly the picture of Paris. The well-manicured, tree-lined paths, with chairs and benches filled with readers and talkers and watchers... the fountains and statues... we sauntered around for a while, took a look at some sculptures by Rodin which were hanging out in front of the palace as part of a larger Rodin exhibition, and then headed back toward our hotel looking for a good café to get a bite to eat. We found a small café just a few blocks from the hotel, had a drink and some good food... the casual service was not so agreeable to Penny, who was quite sleepy after a full day of travel and tourism... So we made our way to the hotel, and got all rested up for the next day...