I Survived the Mona Lisa Mosh Pit

This post could also be titled "When in Paris Do As The Non-Parisians Do".

Either one would work and if printed on a T-shirt would sell like Eifel Tower souvenirs in this fine French city - crazy.

I think I know what Mona Lisa is smiling at after I witnessed (and admittedly was part of) the nutty spectacle of amateur paparazzi going after the easy target. She must be amused because it was pretty funny and actually pretty fun. Now I know that going to one of the world's most famous museums and viewing serious and priceless art is not normally "fun" in a ha ha funny way, but there definitely was an air or giddiness as we joined the scrum to get a view of Leonardo da Vinci's work. Yes it felt more like a rock concert than an art museum, but this was an centuries old icon we were seeing, one we had seen thousands of times over and in countless ways (including bad candy bar commercials), but never in real life. We were all already familiar with her, yet suddenly here she was, in the open with only a thick piece of glass, and wooden barrier, a rope, 3 meters of space filled with throngs of other adoring and curious fans. Replacing the lighter over the head from rock concerts of the past were cell phone cameras, digital SLRs and mini camcorders of people from around the world. If Coke is the most internationally recognizable product and logo, then Mona Lisa has to be a close second.

The Louvre has many amazing pieces of art to view and to see with the time and weight that one wishes. The Mona Lisa isn't one of them, but if you put the right hat on, going to see her sure is fun.

Fire, Ice, Waterfalls, Puffins and ... Moby Dick?

Amidst the adventure of traveling there is always the quirkiness that is mixed in and Iceland is no exception. We popped into a remote farm restaurant on our way back from the bird viewing cliffs on the far western fjord. We were cold and wind weary and looking forward to something hot but more importantly something Icelandic. Alas, the only things on the menu were sandwiches or burgers and "France" fries. Even in the campgrounds we have been staying where it has been mostly Icelanders there is the unmistakable smell of weiners and burgers around dinner time. Am I the only one who likes pickled herring here? Well, at least I can find that.

Speaking of quirky, hope this doesn't get a rise out of too many of you, but here is a museum we passed in Husavik - the whale watching capital of Europe. No - I wasn't to keen on going in, Karen seemed uninterested, Mattias laughed and Mima ran in the other direction.