Paris: The City of Love

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
July 20th 2007

Published: September 23rd 2007

Edit Blog Post

cutejess

Upside Down Pyramid

Go through the other entrance :)

Day 5 (2): Our TM told us about the 'other' entrance to the Lourve. The Main Entrance is the glass pyramid, whereas the other entrance is opposite of the street, near the similar arc de Triomphe is. You'll see the staircase going down. Only waiting in line to get in for 10-15 minutes was remarkable... so that was exciting... and what's more was the upside down pyramid inside there! How cool is that. Tickets cost 9Euro.

Dan and I first saw the Venus de Milo... no one was even there yet (We were in line at 8:30am and the museum doesn't open until 9am). So we got to take some solo shots with no one else around.

After that, we headed off to see the Mona Lisa... where the rest of the world was! Haha, it was quite crowded... sometimes it's hard to understand why the painting is so famous (supposedly it is a painting of Leonardo de Vinci in a women form).

We saw all three wings (but not everything in each wing)... you will notice them in the pictures provided.

After hanging out at the famous museum for 1.5 hours, we headed out to go

Dan and me

AND Venus de Milo

toward the Arc de Triomphe... via walking on the Champs Elysee! First we walked through a park (with cafes on the side) where there were fountains, ducks, pigeons, and such.

And I have to admit, I was hungry. So I ordered a crepe in French... haha, I actually used it!! Though he could tell that I wasn't native (by the way I looked and spoke I suppose) so he responded in English. Darn.

A lot of stands were up because Paris was getting ready for a race.

And the fancy shopping area... wow. It was just a glamorous view. 😊 I came across The Virgin Store (it's a book/media store) and guess what....! They had a big poster that said the last Harry Potter book was coming out. Sooooo you can imagine my excitement. It was coming out at 1am (because of the time difference between the continental Europe and the UK) so I had to make the decision... should I stay out tonight...? Hehehe.

Then we came across the best cafe food ever!!! Brioche Doree. Dan and I were starving by then (it took about another hour to walk from the Louvre to near the

Venus de Milo

alone

Arc de Triomphe) and we both kept passing various cafes. "We're going to the next cafe." "Okay, deal."

You will see the chicken sandwich, fanta, and strawberry tart. You have NO idea how DELICIOUS the baguette sandwich was or Strawberry tart until you try it for the first time. It was halfway through my meal when I thought, "THAT'S why some people only bought the strawberry tart..."

To touch the Arc de Triomphe, you have to take the underground passage to avoid an accident above the ground. You must also buy a ticket to get to the top... in order to see the brilliant view up on top, you must climb the winding staircase.... it took a good 10 minutes of continuous stepping to reach almost the top (there's a gift store up there too).

It is really too bad that I can't take fantastic pictures from atop due to the fencing around it. However, I could feel the breeze and see the centre of Paris.

Additional photos below

Photos: 38, Displayed: 24