May 28 - Paris

May 28 - Paris (Top photo: Sacré-Coeur, second; street beside Sacré-Coeur, third and fourth; Louvre Pyramid.)

We arrived into Charles de Galle airport and hit the ground running. No time for jet lag when you have three short days in Paris! Every city has its own smell; Sydney smells like eucalyptus, Honolulu; tropical flowers and Vancouver is fresh air and cedar. The minute we stepped off the plane, the scent reminded me of a dusty old theatre, the red velvet curtain kind with matching wobbly old chairs.

I love discovering new places; just to get out on the sidewalk and walk till my feet hurt. What I found surprising about Paris is that every city block has beautiful old buildings, and the blocks go on for miles and miles. No hideous 1970s concrete building to break up the aesthetic as in some cities, just one beautiful shuttered building after another.

After freshening up at the hotel – got to love European early check in – we walked from our hotel near Gare Saint-Lazare up to the Montmartre area, and walked around the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur that is set on top of the hill there. From the hillside, there is a lovely view back across the city of Paris, and I got my first view of the Eiffel Tower!

Later in the day, we walked around the streets of Paris, discovering Notre-Dame and the Louvre. I was blown away by the Louvre. I had no idea it was so fabulous. I knew of the IM Pei designed pyramid in the forecourt, but had no idea the sheer size of the original structure itself. To think that they built such a grand building 800 years ago, without modern building techniques, is almost unimaginable. Yet there it remains, evidence of a long, grand history.

As much as I love art and architecture, I must confess to not knowing a whole lot about art history. The Mona Lisa is housed in the Louvre, and I hadn’t given much thought to visiting her. However, the Louvre has €6 entrance fees on Friday nights, so we decided to make a quick trip in to say hello. I was underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa; her picture is small, hidden under a layer of bolted plexiglass, roped off to hold back the pressing crowd of tourists, their cell phone cameras out at arms length. By the amount of camera flashes going off, despite signage requesting the opposite, we wondered if the painting was even the real Mona Lisa? Perhaps it’s just a poster from the museum gift shop!? I was in awe of the building itself; high domed ceilings, endless corridors, mosaic floorings. I fear I walked through there, head bobbing , mouth agape, in typical tourist form!

Links:

The Louvre