Our own private lawn at the Louvre...

Last night we had dinner with friends in Paris. The Ms. are always experts at finding the best patios in town. Last year, they had picked a head-on view of the Eiffel Tower, from the Trocadéro across the river. And a spectacular thunderstorm that felt like our own private fireworks, until the downpour sent everyone flying inside - just when we had finished our meal.

This year, we dined in front of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in the back yard of the Louvre.

Louvre view

Eiffel Tower view

Glasses were literally flying because of an evening wind, service was a bit slow, and the prices high, but you cannot beat the location and the feeling to have your own private lawn with a view of the Louvre on one side and the Eiffel Tower on the other...

At Sunset, it became even more glorious.

But we opted against trying the hideous centrifugal contraption some seem to find entertaining...

This was just a few blocks away from where the new Woody Allen movie started shooting the same day. With first lady Carla Bruni... 

The Tour de France seems to have successfully eclipsed the soccer debacle in my compatriots minds. National pride is restored, with a Frenchman winning today's stage and wearing the yellow jersey. Of course, you have to push out of your mind the fact that everyone else fell and that the riders then went on strike and refused to compete for second place, in protest for the dangerosity of the course. OK, it is the Tour de France, but it was taking place in Belgium. They still went on strike like they were all French. Love it.