It's really nice not following a time schedule.

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Hurtling tourists
Police siren would be nice
Get outta my way!

I started my day with my free breakfast but decided to try the “chocolate chaud” today instead of the “café au lait.” I felt like Peppermint Patty of Peanuts fame when I was dipping my baguette into my cocoa. Lol Guess you had to have read the Peanuts comic strip years ago to get this reference. Anyhoo, there were a couple of guys that were talking in the dining area that had obviously just started chatting. One guy was from Sweden and the other guy was from Edinburgh. It was interesting to eavesdrop on their conversation for a bit before joining in.

Then it was time to say aurevoir since it was past 10A and I wanted to get to the L’Ouvre sooner rather than later so as to avoid the crowds but I think I may have missed that boat!

As suspected, I got to the L’Ouvre and it was super busy already. First there was a long line up to go down the escalators to go buy a ticket. Well, this is understandable because of the x-ray machine where you put all of your bags. Considering this fact the line moved quite quickly! The security guards became quite irritating when repeating over and over “avance” when they saw even the slightest gap in the line up. Once down the escalators you have to queue up once more to buy your ticket. So I had to endure listening to “avance” being repeated every 5 seconds. But then I spotted the self-serve credit card only machine and got out of the line up to use that since nobody was queuing up for the machine. Score! I probably just saved myself 30 minutes of standing around having to listen to “avance” about 360 more times. Lol

Next step was to go over to the Information desk and pick up a copy of the floor plan to the galleries. I read in the Lonely Planet that to see everything in the L’Ouvre properly you would need nine months! Okay so I plan on being here only a few hours. Hmm, I’d say I’d better pick and choose what it is I’d like to see on the map! Plan of action was to head to the Denon Wing and go to Room 6 to fight the waves of tourists trying to capture a glimpse of the Mona Lisa and get that out of the way before taking my time looking at some of the other pieces of art on display. On the way up I met some Canadian Girl Guides (tipped off by their matching pink tops and maple leaf scarves) and chatted up one of the leaders for a bit. Turns out they’re from Burnaby/New Westminster and were actually just up in Denmark for an event. I didn’t chat long because the crowds of people made it difficult so we said goodbye and wished each other good luck with the crowds!

Soon enough I was in Room #6 and immediately saw the Mona Lisa behind a huge mob of people with their arms in the air trying to take a photo. It was quite amusing to watch and thought, “I’m gonna be like that in a little while!” I knew my photos probably weren’t going to turn out very well but ya gotta take at least one since you put so much effort inching your way towards the painting. Trying to get out of the queue, once you’ve had enough, is quite a task as well. Lucky for me a big guy near me was clearing the way making my escape a relatively easy one. 😊 Thinking about it, it is pretty sad that all of the people flock to see the Mona Lisa because it is a very recognizable painting and then try and take a picture to take home. All the while not really getting a chance to really look at and appreciate the painting itself. But I guess under the circumstances it is pretty difficult to do just that.

Since I was already in the Denon Wing of the Museum I continued to stroll around in this section. When they say “large format” French paintings they are not exaggerating. Now all I can say is there’s a lot of paint put on to that massive piece of canvas! For some of them I started to think, you’re investing months, if not years of your life creating this painting, why don’t you choose a subject something more cheery or picturesque?!/

I was going towards the Spanish and Italian Wing of paintings but I’m about 20 steps away when the security guards chair is bumped from behind like someone wants to get out of the closet. She gets up and before you know it the security door is closing. The Security guard has a puzzled look on her face and a family is almost separated! Thank goodness the dad just made it through the door. It was almost Indiana Jones like! Lol Oh well, guess I didn’t really want to see those paintings anyway. Oh yeah, the family that was almost separated…I hear the mom say to her teenage kids, “That’s another reason why I want us to stick close together.”

I don’t need to go through a blow by blow account of my visit to L’Ouvre but I will mention I did enjoy looking at the selection of drawings on display (interesting to look at the fin details.) and the French sculptures displayed in the Cour Marly and Cour Puget. Perhaps it was the open courtyards on the multi-levels and all of the light streaming in that made it so attractive. I probably took more pictures here than I normally would have because after about eight months of owning my camera I figured out a new feature and was testing it out! Basically sometimes I’ll take a picture and it seems over or under exposed. Well, I’ve discovered the manual button where you can change this. I think it’s the aperture but not 100% certain on that one.

I wasn’t that impressed with the Egyptian display. Perhaps I saw a lot of Egyptian stuff on display back at the British Museum when I was there last week was why I was not all that impressed. Oh yes, and there was another crowd pleaser on display…Aphrodite aka Venus de Milo. Too many people crowding around this statue to fully appreciate it.

When I was walking through the museum I got a text message from Penny (whom I also met on my Cambodia and Laos tour) saying she’ll be in Berlin on Saturday. Cool that we’ll be able to meet again. Actually the last while it seems that I’ve been able to meet up with a few people I’ve met on tour which has been super nice but to be honest the last couple of days just doing my own thing has been super nice too since I haven’t done that in quite a while it seems. So it’s been great to mix it up a bit every so often.

By the time I finished wandering around L’Ouvre it was about 2:30/3PM and I was starving! So I picked up a sandwich to take away and found a nice shady spot somewhere in the Jardin du Carrousel. Was nice to refuel and people watch at the same time. It’s interesting to note that it seems like the majority of tourists seem to be families. I guess it is because summer holidays are now in session. There seem to be a lot of Americans as well…got a good story but that will wait for later. All I’ll say is just a shiny example of how “Ugly American” came about…

Next up, a walk along Champs Elysees again and this time I’ll climb up the 284 steps to the top of L’Arc de Triomphe. Thank goodness for the underground passageway to get to L’Arc de Triomphe because traffic is crazy going around the World’s largest traffic roundabout. Go figure with 12 avenues feeding into it. Haha There was a display on some of Napolean’s stuff which was a nice break after rushing 2/3 of the way up. The last 1/3 was a piece of cake and the views from the top were absolutely amazing. It was cool to see from above all of the avenues branching off and of course the Eiffel Tower. L’Arc de Triomphe is also in itself a visually amazing structure. At the base is the home of the grave of the Unknown Soldier from WWI. His fate and the fate of countless others like him are remembered by an eternal flame. According to my Lonely Planet back in 1998 a drunken Mexican football fan urinated on and extinguished the flame…apparently he was celebrating France’s victory over Brazil in the World Cup. Crazy!

I stopped by Jadis et Gourmande, a shop selling some really nice looking chocolates and goodies. No, I wasn’t looking for a treat for myself, just a lovely gift or two for my upcoming hosts in Germany. I was in there minding my own business checking out what I wanted to buy when I notice an American family in there making a ruckus of course. Then it just gets worse! The mom took what she thought was a sample from one of the boxes. One of the shopkeepers politely says “Excuse me madam, those are not samples. If you need help please ask.” And left it at that (albeit a little annoyed.) The woman doesn’t say sorry or even offers to pay for what she has just eaten and proceeds to say…”In America when a box is open like that it’s a sample. It’s really rude the way you spoke to me.” Ooh! The shopkeeper didn’t like that one bit. He retorts (and rightly so) “You come into my store without saying hello, make a lot of noise, touch everything, eat my chocolates and now you leave without buying anything.” The wife and kids leave and the husband at this point is really embarrassed and tries to apologize and then starts saying he’ll be back to buy some treats for his office before leaving Paris at the end of the week. Oh, and do you ship to America? The two shopkeepers are civil and polite to him but once he leaves you could sense their irritation with the situation (too bad I couldn’t understand what they were saying in French.) Meanwhile I’ve found exactly what I want to buy and don’t want to offend them. Lol. They were both really nice to me…perhaps because I had to witness the little “Ugly American” episode…and even got a couple of samples. Lol

What else did I do today? I went back to the Notre Dame area to check out some of the souvenir stores there since I just walked past them yesterday and picked up a couple of postcards. Also took another picture of the Notre Dame since the sun was now in a better position than in the morning. I also walked around the Notre Dame to admire some of the architecture. By this time it was close to 7PM…I’d better get something to eat before it gets too late.

By the time I got back to my hostel which wasn’t that far away it was great to dig into my savory crepe and have some of the fruit I seem to be buying faster than I can eat. I guess I see some nice looking fruit and snap it up not realizing how much I’m buying. I guess it’s a case of buying something good when you see it because you never know when you’ll come by it again. Lol

I was just shattered by 8:30 and fell asleep for about 3 hours! So at this point I got up and washed up just to go back to bed. What an exciting evening. Lol

Oh yeah, one more observation. There really are lots of dogs everywhere. It’s strange seeing dogs in stores and restaurants. And I’ve seen on more than one occasion women holding their dogs like a baby and smooching them on the head. I passed by a couple of stores today specializing in dog “stuff” for lack of a better word to use. I’m just glad I haven’t stepped in any doggy do…touch wood. lol

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Photos

Me outside the L'Ouvre again.
Would you believe that tanline you see around my neck is from Scotland?!?

Inside the L'Ouvre.
Some of those statues that I found fascinating.

Notre Dame
Sadly I did not spot the Hunchback while there...