Perusing Paris

Our first full day in Paris was completely packed with activities. After a 7:15 breakfast of croissants, coffee and yogurt we waited for our tour bus to arrive. We waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, an hour and half after our scheduled departure time,  the tour bus arrived, apologizing for the delay and we all piled on board. We drove all through the city of Paris with a cute little French lady explaining where we were and the history surrounding each important building. The frusturating thing about the tour bus was that we only saw each thing for a few seconds, not long enough to get a good look or really take a picture. We drove past the massive, Arc de Triomphe which honors those who fought in the French revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. The best part of our tour was when they allowed us to get out of the bus for a skimpy ten minute photo shoot with the Eiffel Tower. I now wish that I would have skipped the slow moving tour to explore the city on my own. I much prefer to see one or two buildings thoroughly, than 30 buildings from a distance.

The Louvre

The bus tour dropped us off in front of the Louvre where we had as much time as as wished to explore. I knew that I wanted to make it to the flea markets that closed at 5 p.m., so I allowed myself two and a half hours to browse the collection. My first destination was the Venus de Milo, located in the Denon building. I weaved my way through thick crowds of gaping, camera clad tourists intermingled with archaic Greek busts and lovingly detailed ceramic jugs. The Louvre itself is architecturally stunning with looming ceilings covered in ornate frescoes and glistening marble floors. The maps are well laid out and signs everywhere pointed in the direction of well-known attractions such as The Mona Lisa.

Venus de Milo

On my way to the Venus de Milo I stopped to admire panels once plundered from the Greek Pantheon and hundreds of white, curly haired busks. The room that contains the Venus de Milo does not have anything else in it, (other than about 300 people snapping pictures and battling for a good view). It is easy to see why the slender and graceful female sculpture has gone down in history. Larger than life the sculpture demands to be admired.

I decided to head towards the Mona Lisa next for a quick look, hoping that other Da Vinci paintings would be located in the same vicinity. I strolled through hallways packed with works from the Italian Renaissance period including paintings by Botticelli, Mantegna, Bellini, and even Veronese's massive Wedding Feast at Cana. After about 20 minutes of pushing through crowds I came across the biggest crowd yet. At least 300 people were crowded around the tiny Mona Lisa desperately taking pictures. I'm really not sure why they wanted a picture of the tiny painting because better quality prints are available everywhere and it's behind glass. I was really only going to see the Mona Lisa to check it off my bucket list so it took me by surprise when my throat tightened and I started to tear up while analyzing her mysterious smile. Perhaps it's simply all the hype that has always surrounding the painting, or perhaps Da Vinci really did infuse some strange energy into the work, whatever the case I was surprised at the strong emotional wave that washed over me.

Sarcophagus of Ramses III

I was disappointed to learn that no other Da Vinci's where in the near vicinity so I stepped away from the crowded halls to check my map and couldn't believe it when I saw that the Louvre is home to the Code of Hammurabi. Dated from 1772 BC the stone tablet is one of the first known codes of law to exist. To get there I had to cross through the Egyptian antiquities section where I passed row after row of elaborately decorated and perfectly preserved cases for mummies. I also passed by a small sphinx, dozens of slabs containing hieroglyphics and the massive sarcophagus of Ramses III.  After climbing a huge set of stairs I stopped in my tracks, stunned by a massive, winged and headless figure. I found out that she is called "The Winged Victory of Samothrace" and a victory she truly is.

The Winged Victory of
Samothrace

Intricately engraved Code
of Hammurabi

After the Egyptian Antiquities I was able to transfer over to the Richelieu building and the massive garden of French sculptures. I passed a recent installation of a man under a beautiful and dark starry sky. I finally came to the Code of Hammurabi and was impressed with the amount of writing on its dark surface. The massive pillar shaped slab is absolutely covered in ancient text. It was funny to think that even though this is one of the first codes of law that we know of, they really got straight to it. Laws and regulations cover the front, back, and side of the slab in print so tiny you have to squint to see the drawings.

I wound my way to the front of the building where I met Justine near the giant glass pyramid. We took the underground to the flea market in the Montmarte district, an eclectic gathering ground for artists and musicians located on top of a hill with a great view. At first we thought the flea market was horrible, cluttered with cheap t-shirts and dinky key chains. Disappointed we turned left down an alley to find water and a bathroom when we saw a sign for "antique and rare books." With only 45 minutes until closing time we raced through the covered market place, excitingly paging through prints of old maps and the human body. Leather bound French books, strange archaic wooden tools and delicate lace dresses overflowed from tightly crammed stalls. We were in heaven.

Our view of the Paris skyline from
the steps of Sacred Qoeur 

We had planned on meeting Alexa at the carousel in front of the Sacred Qoeur Church (Amelie movie reference, anyone?) so we started the walk up the steep cobble-stoned streets, reminiscent of San Francisco. The church at the top of the hill had the best view of the Paris skyline that I saw the entire trip. We enjoyed dinner in the area and returned to watch the sunset from the stairs of the church. We enjoyed a bottle of white French wine and listened to musicians while the sky steadily turned darker and darker purple. Near 10 p.m. we exchanged our spot on the stairs for one with a better view of the Eiffel tower. We saw the icon of Paris right as it started to sparkle and shine. A wonderful end to a perfect day.

Moulin Rouge

Not! This is the city of lights...it doesn't sleep!  After sunset we strolled through Moulin Rouge, the burlesque capital of the world. As the streets got darker it also got noticeably more dangerous and we stuck close together, clutching our purses and avoiding eye contact with sinister eyes. After seeing the iconic Moulin Rouge windmill we entered the Museum Erotica, open until 2 a.m. and packed with strange, old, sexual relics. I really enjoyed looking at all of the old photos of french prostitutes from the 1920's. The Moulin Rouge portrayed them in such a glamorous light and the write ups that accompanied each photo explained which famous artists and writers used to frequent the neighborhood. One other interesting item was an old, steel chastity belt complete with a metal lock. Finally we felt we had accomplished enough for one day and returned back to Hotel B&B for some much needed R&R.