As Bri had so generously offered to pick up our parents on Friday (a three to four hour proposition), I figured it was my turn to head to the airport for Laura's arrival while Mom, Dad and Bri headed for the Impressionists at Orsay Museum. Plus, I don't see Laura very often, certainly less so than the others. I was a bit shocked by the size of the huge duffel bag she had brought (I was the only one with an appreciation for the car we would be squeezing into in a few days' time), but it was good to see her.

We all met up at Notre Dame and climbed the many steps up for the great view (check the gallery for pictures some time). It was chilly but clear. We followed it up with a walk around the cathedral itself, then made the short walk over to Sainte Chappelle and its fancy stained glass.

Bri, Laura and Dad, the photographers of the family, took in the Photography Museum, while Mom and I had a chilly walk to check out the lights and local business (we passed one of the many real estate offices to check out the prices of available apartments in the windows - let's just say you can pay an awful lot of Euros for a few square metres of space) followed by a couple pints at a Scottish pub near the museum. Somehow the others knew to find us there. :)

Then it was time for dinner. We met with our favourite parisien, Nicolas, along the Champs Elysees and found a nearby Hippopotamus restaurant ("Try some Hippo-therapy" one of their signs suggests) for supper. Their specialty is steak (mainly beef, but also with ostrich on offer - sadly no emu) which was just fine by me. It's not something I usually complain about, but the service was quite bad (long waits, forgotten stuff, weird waitress), which Nicolas assured us is qutie common in the City of Light.