Paris - Part 2

First off, my apologies for the gap in my Paris coverage. I'll try and improve on it and churn them out this week. Sort of like butter. Anyways, day 2 in Paris was a Friday and the parents decided to grace us with their presence. We walked over to the Musee d'Orsay, which was and had been at the top of my 'to see' list in Paris for months. Much like the previous day at Notre Dame, there was an unnaturally long and snaking line out front. We joined said line and took turns teasing Mark for having seemingly cut an artery in nose while shaving that morning, who was at this time sporting a happening nose band-aid with a nice chunk of bendy foam stuff underneath. Some say it's the look for summer, I agree.

I really enjoyed Musee d'Orsay. The building was very cool, and they have what I'm assuming is the world's premiere collection of impressionist art. However, for some reason they cluster it all together on the top floor, which is rather hard to get to and very cramped with people once you manage. The ground floor, on the other hand, is much larger and was less dense in world-famous art. But overall, I give it 4 stars. Very good.

We all hit a cafe down the road for lunch, dining on fine baguette sandwiches and things in the croque family, before splitting up for the afternoon. The parental types went to the Rodin museum, trying to convince us that it was worth waiting in the world's 3 longest line (behind Notre Dame and Musee d'Orsay) to pay €1 to see the garden. We said 'non' and went to see Napoleon's tomb. I must say, Napoleon certainly thought highly of himself to arrange such a splendid place. Although that said, I'm not really sure what roll he played in this post-mortem homage to his little greatness. By looking at the walls in the place, you would maybe think that he had been an ancient Roman emperor instead of a wee little man from the 19th century. After seeing the tomb, we tried sitting on the grass but got kicked off, went and got some magnums, looked at some stuff in the military museum (as it was included in the ticket) and then went out the other side where people were allowed to sit on the grass. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and sitting on grass was an enjoyable way to spend a bit of time.

The Louvre is open late on Wednesdays and Fridays, and has reduced entrance fees after 6 pm, including free admission for those 26 (yay for me!) and under. Oh, so yeah, we met the folks there at a quarter to 6 for just that much more museum times. After joining the masses to see the Venus de Milo and wondering just where exactly everyone was able to procure their maps, we again split up into over- and under-50 groups with the intention to meet up in a few hours. Being so late in a museum intestive day, the going through the Louvre was a bit tough. I hit the painting section and strolled through what was seemingly the world's longest hallway. Amongst those present in this hall was the one seen here. Personally, I was slightly taken aback to see an Italian Renaissance painting featuring what appears to be a young Jesus on a space ship, keen on maiming the woman shielding herself below. I did not bother to read the caption, I just thought it might ruin it.

As it seems we had acquired a knack for doing so, we managed to walk a route back from the Louvre that involved passing no acceptable dining establishments until we were within a block of our little apartment. While not intentional, we ended up at another Italian establishment where I ate more pizza. A guitar player was present who jazzed up the place, while one of the waiters seemingly enjoyed singing along. It was something!