Paris - Day 2

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Geo: 48.8588, 2.30331

So after an absolutely fabulous nights sleep I was up early today and ready to take on Paree. I decided to catch the bus to Notre Dame and then make my way back along the Siene visiting all the sites along the way....that may have been a bit ambitious, there are a lot of sites to see.

Notre Dame cathedral is built in Gothic style and from the exterior is quite impressive. Huge arches, imposing gargoyles, impressive spires. The interior by comparison is quite sedate. Along the sides of the church are little chapels dedicated to various saints. I was quite impressed to see a statue of Joan of Arc, they must like her on this side of the narrow sea. Surprisingly, there were not many dedications to the Virgin Mary. For those that don't know, Notre Dame means Our Lady, so really the cathedral should be all about her. Although as I flick through the guide book apparently there are 37 representations of her, I counted 5, must have missed something. Seriously France, take a leaf out of Italy's book, now they know how to do a dedication!

After Notre Dame I wandered down to Musee D'Orsay. This building was originally built as a train station for the World Fair. It has now been converted to a Museum and it is lovely. Lots of sculpture and paintings even the uninitiated like me can appreciate. Landscapes, scenes and portraits. None of this post humanist, impression something or other that just looks like someone accidentally split paint on the floor. Some of the artists represented included Monet, Van Gough, Rodin and lots of others (whose names I've already forgotten, being the expert that I am)

After Musee D'Orsay I kept on walking to Musee de L'Armie, or in english, the war museum...well thats not a direct translation but near enough. I realised as I approached the entrance that it was nearly lunch time. I looked across the lawn (you should see the entrance to this place, very majestic) and I could see a couple of restaurants. I decided nah I'll go to the museum first (it was pouring rain and the museum was closer) and do lunch later. Four hours later as it turned out.

This museum is dedicated to military history. They had displays with the old suits of armour, artillery, battering rams, the Napoleonic wars (actually I missed that one, my feet hurt too much) and the first and second world wars. I had no idea the french had been in so many wars. Wars with Germany, Spain, Belgium.,,,they really don't make very good neighbours. There were displays on all sorts of military, not just the french. I even saw a few Aussie uniforms and photos. The guides talked a lot about the history, how the wars started, certain battles, Frances involvement, etc. strange though, there was nothing about cheese eating surrender monkeys.

After the museum and "lunch" I walked back to my hotel in blazing sunlight. Honestly, they say Melbourne weather is unpredictable. Today started out muggy, then pouring rain, then beautiful heat and now its overcast.

Luggage update; I'm starting to loose my shit with these people. I rang the airline this morning to find out what was happening. Only the number they gave me was not for Ethihad or Air Seychelles, it was for Air France, who apparently are handling the baggage claim. The gent I spoke to this morning was very helpful. He confirmed my luggage had been found and was on its way to Paris, should be at the airport at 5pm today and they would forward it on from there.
Now keep in mind the office is only open until 7pm. At 6.30pm I was still walking back from lunch, realising I wasn't going to make it, I rang the hotel to find out if my luggage had arrived...it had'nt. So I called Air France again and got the most useless article in the world. She puts all indian call centre workers to shame. I'd rather be talking to Sanjeev, seriously. First it took 6 goes for her to get my claim number right, then she confirmed my luggage had been found, then she said it had arrived, but it hadn't been scanned at Charles De Gaulle. Then apparently it arrived yesterday at 2pm. She then proceeded to tell me I'd have to take it up with Air Seychelles, which I was not happy about, so she hung up. I tried to call back but couldn't get through because by that stage it was after 7! So I had a little cry, then went to get some wine. Now I'm much calmer so I better go back and wash my other clothes so I have something to wear tomorrow. If my bags don't turn up I'm finding out where this call centre is and you will see my next update on the news.

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Comments

[Lou]

if you wear your clothes for two days, then launder them and run around naked for a couple of hours at the Laundromat, you will only have to go there every other day instead of every day.