Our first (for this visit) full day in Paris

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Monday 21 February 2011

We obviously hadn't shaken off the jet-lag - woke about 3am! Still, it's a good time for catching up on emails, blogs and sorting out photos!

After a leisurely breakfast of pain au chocolat (from the boulangerie on the corner) and coffee followed by a dash to the local Monoprix for essential supplies, Monday saw us wandering around the 2nd Arrondissement in search of some of the old shopping passages: Passage des Panoramas, La Galerie Vivienne and Passage Jouffroy (technically, in the 9th Arr.). Apparently, La Gallerie Vivienne was the first shopping area in Paris to be heated in winter and it was the place to be seen. It's been restored and the expensive shops are still there - like the Jean-Paul Gaultier shop, watched over by two rather solid, plain clothed security guys. Passage Jouffroy was my favourite, with it's shops full of collectables, dolls houses, prints and books.

After a spot of lunch (paté foie grois with toasts and jams in my case - mmm), we were off to the Musée du Louvre to see some of the rooms we didn't get to last time (2008). Napoleon III's rooms were pretty amazing - the sort of opulence one usually associates with the monarchy. Surely the Revolution was intended to remove inequities like that (liberté, égalité, fraternité and all that).

We met up with Ross & Julie for a drink on the Left Bank before they headed off to Moulin Rouge and we headed back to the apartment. A grand day indeed (but I'm glad I bought that warm jacket)!

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Photos

Musée du Louvre (where else?)
Looking from the Cour Carrée

Walking by the Seine
Heading for a drink with Ross and Julie