A very big day out

Who has the best smile?

Impressive, La Pallas de Velletri

Cliche

Les Invalides

Bus with daredevil drivers

Shakespeare & Co on left bank

Inside Shakespeare & Co

Notre Dame

Shopping

I wake to loud rumblings on the roof, oh oh. Its raining. Rain and storms are predicted all day. The plans for today go out the window and a restart is required, first stop the Lourve.

With all the other tourists, I wait in the line at the pyramid. With all the other tourists I see the Mona Lisa. With all the other tourists I see the Venus de Milo. Then I set off to explore its actually not that crowded away from the main attractions and I get immersed in so many different items had no idea how massive the collection is. Will need to come back here for a week to do it properly. Also find the maps and signage a bit bewildering. Finally find a sorite (exit) only to be told by some security guy blabbering in French we can’t go that way. Apparently there is an ‘incident’. Other security guards send us on a wild goose chase to find exits. With two boys from Melbourne I go up and down round and round and eventually make it out, we thought we where making the sequel to the Da Vinci code, “Escape the Lourve”.

The rain has settled down now, so a walk through Jardin des Tulieies is in order. Discover an abundance of statutes, beautiful gardens and lakes. Easily the most beautiful park I have ever seen. This leads me to la Concorde. I love Nelson’s column with all the hieroglyphs, the statues with gold, the fountains are all very over the top. All looks so much bigger than it does in Tour de France on TV.

Cross the Seine and travel along the bank for a while to go and find Les Invalides. I saw this from the open top bus yesterday and am intrigued by what it is. The whole complex is massive with buildings, a dome and manicured gardens. It is for the military, including a home for war veterans and Napoleon’s burial site.

From the exquisite to the mundane. Now it is time for the most difficult thing in Paris, a toilet break. This time I see one of the contraptions on the street and wait in line to test it out. Between each person the whole complex whirs and shakes for 5 minutes whilst it is automatically cleaned, hence the long line.

It starts to rain so I nick into a café on Av de Tourville and experience my first surly French waiter. He is having none of my lame attempts at Bonjur’s and is quite a pain. It makes me giggle that I finally get to experience what everyone talks about. Would love to congratulate him on being the first one but don’t think he will get it. I eat my yummy quiche, consult maps and set off on my quest to climb the Eiffel Tower.

Going up through the park watching hundreds of tourists take silly photo’s with the tower. Then arrive at the base with the bad weather I was hoping there would be less people. Alas I was wrong, count the first hundred and then estimate the queue is over 1000 people long with only one lift operating I decide it is madness to wait and hop on the open top bus to do a bit more exploring.

St Germain is the next area, very quaint and more like the stories I read. Butchers, fish, fromage, fruit and flower shops would like to stay in this area one day. Also stacks of books shops.

Then past the national library, weird design. Opened in 1996 with 10 million volumes and 4 separate high rise buildings facing each other shaped like open books. The biggest rain storm of the day arrives so I get on the bus in the nick of time and stay downstairs with a bunch of Americans and Germans, it even hails but is very hot and sticky.

Back over the Pont Neuf and hide in a café for my first au chocolat chaud whilst it is still raining. Wow, this is really nice, I can get used to this.

Out with the maps and search for a shop that I know is around here somewhere, Shakespeare and Co. I read a book ages ago about the shop it has been on the left bank since 1919. The place is eccentric to the extreme and all bohemian. Young writers are allowed to live and work at the shop. This is the highlight of the day I go up to the second level photography is not allowed which I think adds to the atmosphere. It is jam packed with second hand books in every language and fits a lot in to something the size of an average bedroom. There are a stack of 21 years olds being philosophical and worldly. One girl is stretched out on a couch under a shelf reading a book. Three American girls are in a corner giggling over a chess game. Two others are at the little table by the window reading quotes to each other. A Japanese girl is hiding in some type of booth doing I don’t know what.  I wonder if any of them are waiting to be invited to stay or if they already live here?

Notre Dame is looking particularly good with the storm clouds so a few more snaps whilst the tourists feed the sparrows. Then I file in and am amazed like all who have gone before me by the beautiful stained glass windows.

Time to venture homewards on the way I can’t resist going into Chanel and decide to try on some leather gloves alas the fingers are too long so I save myself 690 euros.