Wednesday, June 16th - another boring day in Paris! :)

(That title's a joke. Nothing is boring in Paris, not even the fact that they collect your garbage every day!)

We thought we were overwhelmed yesterday with all we saw.  Today we go into overload.  The Louvre and it's gardens Jardin des Tuileries (don't ask me to pronounce that!), La Madelaine, a boat trip on the Seine with a stop and tour of Notre Dame, the boat back to the Eiffel Tower and a stroll home through the boulevards.  Achey, breaky feet....

Well, you all know about the Louvre.  Did you know that it has over 35,000 pieces in its inventory of art and furnishings?  Have you ever tried to see them all in one day?  Of course not, but I sure felt like it before we gave up.  You're supposed to start at the Pyramid; we ended up here.  We started at the bottom from the Metro train station which is a mall at the below ground level and worked our way up!  I liked the pyramid a lot better than I thought I was going to but it still looks out of place to me.  It's very dramatic and it's  hot under there!

Of course, one of the biggest draws at the Louvre is the Mona Lisa.  It's surprisingly small.  The crowd was not!  People were pushing to get to her.  I just stood still until someone in front of me moved and I would move forward a spot.  Until!!  Until these two old women who kept shoving me from behind shoved one too many times so I just used my butt as a weapon and they didn't touch me anymore!  I plead self defense.  I finally was able to gaze at her for awhile and decided that that sly little smile on her face was saying "What is all the fuss about, anyway?"

There were at least three artists painting copies.  Even the old masters did that!  These folks were good, even with spectators watching over their shoulders.  I guess you have to be good to be allowed to do this in this most famous of art museums.

The Louvre is not the easiest place to get around in.  We all agreed that the mapping was confusing and you were frequently just walking around trying to figure out where you were.  However, it is huge and some of the spaces you find without looking for them.  I found this one trying to find my way out!

One of my destinations was Napolean's apartments.  It was a rather round-about route asking every attendee along the way because the mapping of where you were didn't seem to match where you were going!   The apartments were at the end of one wing but you couldn't go straight to them; you had to weave your way in and out of other displays although the map made it look like it was a straight shot.  John never got to this part of the museum and I didn't have my camera with me, so if you would like to see some of the apartment go to
http://www.panoramicearth.com/1464/Paris/Le_Louvre_-_Napoleon_III_Apartments.  I was surprised how long it took me to research this - about an hour - because there are few pictures even on the Louvre website which had no reference to the apartment at all.  You will most likely have to cut and paste that address because I don't think this blog program gives direct links, but it will be worth your effort and if you click on "full screen" on the little option icons at the bottom of the screen, you can move it around and you will really get the true effect.  Enjoy.  Oh, and yes, he really did live there!

 Our next destination was La Madeleine, a lovely old church within walking distance of the Louvre.  It was originally built on the foundations of another building and Napoleon wanted it to be a Greek monument to his triumphs but when the Arc de Triomphe was finished, it didn't seem so important.  Then Napoleon was defeated and the next guy decided to make it into a church after some debate that wouldn't it make a fine train station!  It has 3 domed skylights that make it unique from all the other churches we went to see.
 

Honestly, now I have to confer with Robin and John because they are all starting to blur.  They all have arches and naves and gravestones on the floors and plaques on the walls - and beggars at the doors. 

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It was time for a rest and the city in perspective so we took the river tour down (or up, I'm not sure) the Seine.

 I was ready for the rest but then we came to the two islands in the middle of the river and on one of them is Notre Dame!  So off we went to tour that.  Now, first of all, I did not know that Notre Dame was on an island, did you?  Secondly, I learned about flying buttresses in the 6th grade and as far as I can recall, this is the first time I've seen some real ones!!

The day was exhausting and overwhelming.  We gladly got on the boat to get us to the area of the Eiffel Tower so we could walk home from there.  Picked up wine, bread and cheese and "dined" in the apartment.
Have found a very good cheap Viogner!