Paris.....ahhhhhhh

I will say upfront that Paris is my favourite city in Europe and happily its been confirmed on this my third visit. Granted the weather is very warm and so strolling along the Rue Renard down past Hotel de Ville, past Notre  Dame to the Seine is even more enjoyable than I had previously remembered. I love Paris.. did I say that. The temp is very warm around 30c and no breeze and staying warm overnight. The apartment on the 4th floor with no lift is warm as the sun comes in the morning and in the afternoon. It is located in a street filled with bags shops. I was very excited about this but found out later that they were wholesale shops with no retail trade. Saved me some money though. We arrived on the Monday for a 10 night visit. 

Did a lot of walking around to get our bearings and on the Wednesday visited the Louvre. We spent 8 hours straight viewing paintings, sculptures and antiquities. What a fantastic experience even though this was my third visit. We were immersed in beautiful and provocative art and educated in history and culture e.g. We visited the Islam section of the museum.

On the Thursday we activated our Metro pass to get around on the underground trains and voted at the Australia Embassy. It was strange to hear such strong Australian accents from the staff. It all seemed a bit casual with no signs saying what to do and every group needing a pass to go to the 6th floor where voting was done. We then walked around the Eiffel Tower and then onto Champ Elysse to look in the expensive shops. We went into the Peugeot show room  as they had an interesting display with a Le Mans race car with a vintage car. Very cool. We went inside the La Fayette shopping centre where the decor is so beautiful you can be forgiven for not looking at any of the items for sale. The ceiling is a dome with millions of coloured glass panels and the sides are like rows in an old theatre. I brought my stockings that I usually purchase when I have been to Paris before. 

Rodin museum was on the lists so we headed off to the other side of the Seine river via metro. The gardens are so lovely with flowers out and everything green. Some major works such as The Thinker and The Gates of Hell are in the garden and then the villa has more delicate pieces and was his home for a time. 

Street entertainment in front of Notre Dame was a regular event and we mostly caught them performing in the evening. There were fire dances and acrobats and performances at both Notre Dame and  the Pompidou Centre. And yes Michelle I did get a crepe with Nutella from a take away stall (see picture).

Everywhere you looked there where beautiful buildings, works of art and shop displays that were stunning. On returning home via the Seine river we saw officers on horseback coming down the road. Not sure why but it looked majestic anyway. Every street held something of interest and Paris is a great place to wander. Some of the metro stations have been decorated in various styles. Our local metro Arts et Metiers was done out like a Jules Verne novel with wheels coming down from the ceiling and the sides made from polished copper....what can I say....I love Paris.

More to come re Paris on next blog entry.