Le Metro

We had a really busy day on Monday which ended at the Arc De Triomphe, Napoleons famous neo-classical folly.  It was the Melbourne version of Paris with rain, sun, cloud and wind alternating throughout the day.  Highlights were the Nympheas at the Orangerie, greenhouse turned gallery of impressionists.  The Nympheas are a collection of Monet's room sized works all depicting his beloved lily ponds at Giverny (the subject of Wednesday's day tour).  They are breathtaking, and backed up by a great collection of his contemporaries, particularly Renoir, Gaugin, Durain and Cezanne.  Coming out of the  Orangerie we were hit by the first of a series of rain showers that punctuated our afternoon and evening.  We took refuge in a small cafe in the Tuileries gardens where the highlight for Joanne was her Desperados beer, which is flavoured with Tecquila and (she says) tasted sweet like a shandy.

Le Louvre from the Tuileries

We started the day with a visit to Montmartre.  This was our first taste of the underground - Le Metro - and it was a revelation!  Whilst it is showing its age and is not bright and sparkly, i.e. a little tired looking, in regard to its central function, delivering people to destinations all over Paris, it shines.  The tickets are a little small and easy to lose, but you only have to use then to get on, not to get off.  The trains are reasonably modern and clean, although there is a variety of vintages, but most importantly they are plentiful.   If your train pulls out just as you arrive on the platform you know that another will be there in 3 minutes or so.  Whilst they do get crowded at times, we haven't not been able to get on one yet, and if it is too crowded you can always just wait for another.  In short, Le Metro is what we Melbournians deserve as a train system.  

Sacre Coeur 

After visiting Sacre Coeur and a wander around Montmartre pursued by portrait artists, we hopped onto the Metro to head off to the Louvre,  and after a quick entrance by-passing the long queue waiting to purchase tickets thanks to our Paris Pass, The Louvre is truly a daunting prospect so we decided to not even attempt to see too much but select only a few areas we were interested in.    So we forsook the well worn path to the smiling lady to visit the restored apartments of Napoleon III on the fist floor of the Richelieu wing, and the re-discovered foundations of the original Chateau, deep underneath the current palace, dating back to the 12th century.  Fine art was limited to a stroll through the new sculpture exhibition in the recently roofed courtyards in the same wing, and some of the medieval iconographic paintings.  

After a brief respite we headed off to the Arc about 7:00 pm, hoping to catch the sunset from the top.  Again the Metro showed its worth.  No matter where you want to go there is always a station nearby and a route to get to your destination 'sur le Metro'.