Thursday, Dec 12, 2013

Surprisingly we managed to sleep until nearly 8am, so hopefully jet lag won't be an ongoing problem.
With a little help from Google maps we decided we could probably walk everywhere we wanted to go today and so set off just before 10 in the direction of the Louvre. Our pre-purchased tickets promised queue-less entry if we went in by the Richelieu portal which we duly did but being earlyish on a cold morning the queues were negligible anyway. Once inside we had to get rid of coats, hats, scarves and gloves as it was heavily heated. We duly admired the requisite number of Da Vinci's, Botticelli's, Carraveggios etc and eventually found ourselves in front of the somewhat underwhelming Mona Lisa and amused ourselves by wondering if it was in fact the original. Then wandered back through the Italian section where the subject matter seemed to be either all gloomy religious stuff or naked bacchanalian orgies. Still the colour and detail was oppressive.
Freed from the demands of centuries old artwork, we re-traced our steps across the frosty Louvre forecourt and wandered along the riverfront for a while. We kept being accosted by very annoying girls who grabbed at us and tried to force us to sign some petition or other. They were equal only to the Egyptian touts at the Pyramids in their persistence.
Eventually we found ourselves on Ile de la Cite and fortuitously right outside La Sainte Chapelle. As we happened to have a book of tickets that gives entry to all kinds of places, and even better as there were no queues we were able to wander in and spend some time admiring the truly magnificent stained glass windows. I hadn't remembered the Church being on two levels and it wasn't until we had climbed the ubiquitous spiral staircase that we could really appreciate the windows and, particularly, the famous Rose window.
By this stage it was well past lunchtime so we decided to head towards home and find something to eat on the way.
We eventually wound up at a place recommended in our apartment guide, a place called L'Escargot just around the corner. We decided to forgo the snails but had some very good fish instead. A nice treat after a long walk.
So now it's back to studying maps to sort out tomorrow's excursion - possibly a trip to Versailles.