Ooh! It's apparently going to be 25c tomorrow, then 28c Friday. Life is good!
My plane touched down in Paris at about 6.30am today. I have to say, my arrival was a bit of a disappointment. Charles de Gaul airport is an absolute shambles, and standing with hundreds of other people, squished into a hot, stuffy corridor whilst lining up to get through customs, wasn't a great start to the morning. To top it off it was a rainy, grey, cold morning. So I don't know where that corridor got off being hot and stuffy.
It all quickly improved after that! The sun came out, and the weather was perfect for walking around. Taxis are surprisingly cheap - although only seem to be able to take cash, which is a little outdated. My hotel is in a fantastic location - the Louvre is right across the road, and all of the major sights are within walking distance.
I'm very glad I'm not driving within Paris - although a lot of streets seem to be one way, lanes seem to be non existent, and people just drive anywhere. Including through buildings. I can't believe they have roads going through the palace!
And don't make the mistake of thinking pedestrians have right of way, because that doesn't even seem to be the case at pedestrian crossings, as a few other tourists found out today.
I spent most of today at the Louvre - five hours to be exact, and although I think I got through most of it, that was at a pretty fast pace. You could easily spend several days there, if you really want to give it all the attention it deserves. Seeing my favourite Italian paintings in the flesh was amazing - and of course the Mona Lisa. Which is so small, for all the fuss it causes! Getting a good look at anything in the Italian section, let alone the Mona Lisa, is difficult with all of the people crowding around everything - how people think they can properly view a painting that's 10 metres wide from a few feet away is beyond me, but they are good at getting in everyone else's way! The size of some of those paintings is unbelievable. I can't wait to get to Italy and see more of it. And seeing an art museum that's actually full of ART is refreshing - no 'modern' rubbish here! That crap is kept in its own museum, I think.
The statue of Venus is impressive too. I didn't realise they still had some of the medieval castle under the ground too, they've dug down to it underneath the palace, and you can walk through. Seeing so much in one day makes it hard to take it all in, but that place is amazing. I can't get over how big the Louvre really is!!! And only half of its used for the museum. It's a shame not to see how it was inside as the royal palace, but I guess none of that survived... I now understand why you'd be so pissed seeing that place standing there in its ridiculous size and opulence, when you can't even afford bread to feed yourself...
Napoleon's apartments are on display too, and is opulence at its most... well, just at its most. Strange little man - you should SEE his bed. It has bloody feather tufts on top of the canopy!
After the Louvre was the Notre Dame. It's a little weird seeing it stuck in the middle of busy streets and cafes, but I guess most landmarks are like that now. It's absolutely beautiful inside, completely indescribable, so I won't bother trying.
Anyway, I'm absolutely stuffed, so I'm off for an early night. My feet are killing me from all the walking today around the Louvre, so they need rest so I can walk to the Eiffel Tower tomorrow! Then the plan is to take the metro to Versailles. Photos will be forthcoming... sometime soon. The wireless is exorbitant in this hotel, so I won't be online too much until I get out of Paris. That's assuming it will be cheaper anywhere else...
Bon soir!
(and yes, they do all speak English for the most part, but treat you a lot differently if you attempt to speak French first. Everyone I've met so far has been very friendly and helpful!).
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