Paris Trip Wednesday 25 January 2006
Les Invalides and Louvre

Invalides is a military hospital, and also the site of several museums, including the tomb of Napoleon. Paris seems to be putting a lot of effort into her role as a capital city, and there were several groups of workmen at work in the grounds of Invalides.

We walked from Invalides metro station Southwards towards the back entrance, through the arch and quads towards the ticket offices in the front. On the way we detoured slightly to take a few pictures of the Place de la Concorde.

After Place de la Concorde we headed towards Invalides.

We bought tickets for the military museum and Napoleon's tomb, heading for the military museum first. Sadly, it was up several flights of stairs. We did ask about the elevator, but it was reserved for the disabled. If you are elderly or have sore knees, you might want to skip the museum.

Once up on the second floor, the museum was very interesting. The museum we looked at covered WWII over two floors with lots of good and thought provoking exhibits, including French, British and German uniforms, vehicles and other items reflecting the war.

The highlight of the trip today was seeing the RAF logbook. It was just a mundane flying logbook, yet it told a truly heroic tale of men giving their lives in defense of their country. The tragic artifacts from the Holocaust also gave pause for thought and reflection on what must not be allowed to happen again.

After the war museum, it was on to the tomb of Napoleon. The tomb is in one of the annexes of the main building at Invalides, under a large dome.

We opted to have lunch after this, and retraced our steps back towards the Grand Palais on the North bank of the Seine crossing the Pont Alexandre III, passing the Petit Palais.

Finding ourselves at Champs Elyses, we walked up to find somewhere to buy postcards and lunch. It was easy to find postcards, but a post office was harder. We did find one though, and my French was put to the test buying stamps for the UK and USA.

After buying stamps, we looked around the side streets behind the Champs and found a Thai/Chinese restaurant. My red curry was kind of bland initially, but spiced up nicely with the addition of some large dollops of red chilli sauce.

With lunch eaten, we waited for a taxi to take us to the Louvre. We waited a while, and with an apparently comatose man in front of us, we decided to start walking towards the Grand Palais and Louvre, and hopefully pickup a tax on the way. A taxi duly appeared, driven by yet another surly sudanese man, who muttered into a bluetooth earpiece. After the food prices in Paris, especially for such basics as sodas, 6E for a taxi seemed like a bargain, and we were deposited happily at the front of the Louvre, which contrary to my expectations was not louvred in any way shape or form. Instead, a huge complex of beautiful buildings act as a nest to a large glass pyramid, which is the entrance and focal point for visitors.

The Louvre is large. Very very large. It also has very very many paintings. No person can reasonably expect to enjoy a visit if they try to see too much. After buying tickets from the automated ticket booth via credit card, we looked around the entrance hall for a starting point.

Tickets for the Louvre are good all day, so you can exit and restart if you have a full day to devote to seeing it. We started at the top and worked downwards. Having so many paintings allows a slightly different perspective than normal. With so many paintings, you get a different insight into the daily life of portraiture that must have been many painters stock-in-trade. Certain eras of painting also have commonalities, such as the exposed breast, and consistent religious themes. A few paintings caught my eye. Photography is permitted, except in busy areas, such as the Italian section (Mona Lisa) and a few others.

We struggled a little with the sheer size of the place. The maps can be confusing to read, and the stairs and elevators are quite far apart. For people who don't want to be on their feet for several hours, plan to start at some interesting place in art history, and schedule a stop back outside, or at the entrance hall, for a sandwich and some water. The Mona Lisa was present and correct, and we took a look for curiosities sake on the way out. Expect to enjoy the paintings in the quieter areas such as the Delacroix works, much more than a single painting behind bulletproof glass and a mob of tourists. In fact, unless you really need to see this painting, the Musee D'Orsay is a much better lit, cooler and generally more pleasant space in which to enjoy beautiful paintings.

On the way out, we bought some refreshments and sat outside on the edge of the fountain and recharged. It was bitterly cold, and had clouded over whilst we were inside the Louvre. We caught the Metro West to Concorde and changed to the 12 line North to Jules Jeffrin. On the spur of the moment, we changed our minds and stopped early at Abbesses, which is the stop for the Montmartre Funnicular. These are little cars that run up a steep track to the Sacre Coeur Basilica.

The Paris weather finally changed slightly for the worst, and it snowed briefly as we skirted the Basilica and walked down to the hotel. Meredith stopped at a phharmacy for some hand lotion whilst I went next door and bought a champignon mushroom pizza (fresh cooked) and a beignet chocolat. A delicious end to a long day.

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