Paris Day 2
- Roommate left early?
- Didn't fall into WC. Apparently there is no decent place to do laundry accoding to reception. Hmm. Young and Happy = may be unsanitary if you stay too long.
- Went to the Basilica @ Mont Marte. Beautiful church and beautiful view (must watch Moulin Rouge again!) and there was a service by nuns.
- Was conned into a sketch by some random artist on the way down, who wanted to fleece me off 40 euros. Paid 5 instead and left with a sour taste and a pastel that didn't look like me even. I'll remember Jean-Jacque Dupont at least until the end of my Paris trip... That aside, I have had less issues with baskers and the needy here than in Chile or Madrid (although now that I think about it, Chile wasn't that bad...)
- Went to the Lourve! The building is stunning. Blend of the old and the awesome new lobby with glass pyramids. Has to been seen. .The collection thankfully is reduced so you can go through the place in half a day. I saw Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Madonna on the Rocks, but I think in terms of quantity, D'Orsay had more iconic pieces of paintings (at least the ones I recognised). The crowds weren't too bad, since it was a Thursday.
- Photo exhibition on the bridge [Paris was celebrating the Month of Photographs].
- Eiffel Tower - after a nice camembert sandwich in a baguette (rock hard!) at the Jardine de Luxembourg. Can't imagine why people would think the tower is an eyesore. The city would be just like any other European city without it. Althought the blue roofs with penthouses appears to be unique (so far during my travels). There are 4 lifts/stairwells at each leg of the Tower (north/west are lifts, south/east are stairs) and today's queues, as with the Lourve's, were also better than described in my guide book. There were I think gypsies hawking at the site and the French military were stationed there (possibly because it is the tallest structure in the metro area - terrorist target?)
- Champ De Elysses - Arc De Triompe was powerful. It's not AWM, but it's simple and blindingly imposing. Traffic must be pretty hazardous at the roundabout, but as a spectator it's fun to watch. There's work setting up stands probably for Armistice Day on 11th.
- *French boys however look dopey. Madridlenos are better lookers.*
- For shopping, Champ De Elysses is fun to walk. Plenty are out of my price range, but there's Zara, Adidas, Sephora, a few car showrooms (Fun! Especially the Citroen one). Probably the busiest bit of town this time (?) and there are so few people that look as though they have just got off work (1850hrs) unless they dress casual cool for business here. [Note: I forgot about the 35-hour work week when I wrote this]
- Yummy Haagen Daz. Apparently if you order takeaway, you cannot eat it in the restaurant area upstairs. That's cool, I can imagine the congestion.
