Monday, September 5, 2016

Paris- Monday

Last night, we did a dinner cruise down the Seine River. It was a train ride to get there, a change of trains as well. Some of the stations require lots of walking to get from one platform to another.  Comfy walking shoes are always required.  We have managed to navigate the Metro pretty well, but a map in hand and reading glasses at the ready, to check whether we are on the right train.  So far so good.

The river cruise was very pleasant. It's a bit touristy, but you know what, we are tourists!

The food was good, fois gras pate to start was really yummy. 
Chicken or salmon on pearl couscous next, followed by chocolate bites for dessert.  Bordeaux red to wash it all down while taking in Paris by lights.


Our departure point was right near Notre Dame Cathederal.



We caught the train back, getting off at the Eiffel Tower, just in time to see the hourly light show. A five minute sparkling spectacular.  Photo doesn't do it justice, but we have a short movie which isn't bad.

The nightly power bill may be significant but it is grand.
Up bright an early to get to the Louvre museum.  It was a dreary looking day, in fact drizzle by the time we caught a couple of trains to get there.  The quiet entry rejected us, only for groups etc.  over to the "plebs" queue to stand in the rain for 30 mins.  Not too heavy though.

Almost, but not quite!  The pyramid is a recent addition and gives light to the below level info, ticket area, cafes etc.
It is a massive building, with thousands of collections of art work, sculptures etc.  Much of it plundered from all over the world.  Italy, Greece, Egypt, Iraq, just about everywhere.  Although we didn't spot anything from Australia or NZ.  Maybe in one of the many areas we didn't see!

Mona Lisa, famous for being famous.  A bit like Kim Kardashian!
Tiled mosaic floor.  Fantastic.
450 BC. Not very old!

Magnificent tapestries. About 7m by 6m. A room full of them.
A flash camping toilet!
There is only so much you can take in. A fantastic collection preserved for ever I suppose.

Out of the Louvre, back to the Eiffel Tower for a lunch date. Nearly 30 years ago, we had Christmas lunch up the ET.  It was a cup of watery tomato soup and a bucket of chips. Memorable.  We did a little better this time.  The view from our table.

Our apartment is about half way between the green patch in the middle and Louis 14ths Cathederal on the left.  It is usually green right up the middle, but when the World Cup soccer was on a few months ago, it got destroyed by the massive crowds/drunks.
A gloomy day as you can see, so we decided not to go to the top.  We weren't going to see anything.
Below shows it a little bit later in the day.
After lunch, we walked back home and crashed for a while.  It was siesta time (not even in Spain yet)
About 4ish we headed out again for a stroll around our local shopping strip.  Just looking!
That's just the goat cheese section.

A further stroll took us to Louis 14ths Cathederal. So we went inside.  Unlike just about every other Cathederal I have seen, this had no area for parishioners.  It was Louis's private church, not for the people.
The tomb of Napoleon 1
A bit over the top with marble and gold!
The Invaladies is behind the Cathederal. We didn't realise yesterday that they were attached.  The Invaladies is now a Military Museum.

We had an hour to do the Cathederal and Museum. The museum had a great collection of military history from the 1500s through to 1945.  Everything in Europe is so old. It is easy to become blaise about the age of things. 
We could have spent the whole day here. It's a bit like the War Memorial in Canberra.


A busy day today so time to stay in for dinner tonight.  Local supermarket had lots of salads/prepared food so it was easy.  

So it is farewell to the beautiful city of Paris.  We have really enjoyed our time here, partly due to our location.  Anyone out there coming to Paris, stay in the 7th district.  It's fantastic. So much to see.
Off to Pau in the south of France for some quiet time with Jan and Jess.  The pool at the villa looks inviting.






























2 comments:

  1. Mona Lisa smile was much smaller than expected. Loved the cheese.
    H

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