Paris Day 6 (20 April)

Interesting start to my day today. Just as I'd jumped into the shower, Mum rang. Luckily I only put my toe in the water, but as I raced to turn off the tap, inadvertently stuck the side of my head under the water, so trying to grab my phone in time was hilarious - great to chat with her though, get an update on what happening and reassurance everyone and everything is AOK back home. 💕💖

We have a 10am entry to the Louvre today and need to buy a train ticket (as our 5 day pass ran out yesterday). We were confident it wouldn't be difficult - soon discovered that was a mistake. The darn machine wouldn't let me choose a 2nd zone and no matter how hard I tried (multiple combinations, tapping my finger on the correct button until it was red, cursing, etc etc) finally I decided the machine had won and chose a ticket type that was more expensive but at least would work for the 2 of us (2nd person only paid half cos it's a weekend, so thought that was a good deal).

Nope - that idea lasted until Sue tapped on and went through the barrier with me right behind, but wouldn't let me through 😡😭. Went and spoke with the Customer Service guy who didn't quite understand what I was saying, so just ended up buying myself yet another day ticket. The entire ticket buying exercise took us 15 (painful) minutes!!

Moving on............ train trip was easy cos we are 'pros' now at navigating it (in all honesty it's pretty easy) and arrived just before 10am. Hurrying to the Louvre we discovered the line was quite long and everyone in it had pre-booked like us, so took our spot and meandered around the barriers for about 15 mins before getting to the front of the queue and 'viola' we were in.

Adorning the Louvre are 86 sculptures of illustrious French men commissioned by Napoleon III. In 1864, Architect Hector Lefuel, began work on the sculptures, each 3.15m high. They include artists, writers, scholars, statesmen and churchmen, fitted with period attire showcasing a panorama of French history from the 6th to 19th centuries. One thing I do find a little frustrating in France, is they mostly provide descriptions of artefacts in French - which isn't overly helpful. Here's a photo taken from inside the Louvre showing some of the sculptures and you can see half of one on the right hand side!!

Sue wanted to see Napoleons' rooms, but sadly that exhibition is closed until next month, so we wandered off to see some more paintings. I then decided I wanted to see the Egyptian exhibition so after a false start, we headed off in the correct direction and found it about 5 mins later. The Louvre is HUGE and the layout is quite clever, but can be a bit confusing. It is also very 'walk' friendly, as you can catch escalators (instead of always having to walk up stairs) and there is heaps of seating for when your tootsies get tired. Here's some shots from my wanderings:

After about 90 mins of browsing we decided it was time for lunch. As we were scoping out possibilities I noticed this:

How lovely to be recognised - they've waited a long time to place this book on the shelves!!

We ducked into a lovely cafe for lunch and I enjoyed my first omelette (with cheese and pomegranate seeds). The pomegranate seeds pop made all the difference - yummo. Here we are enjoying our lunch:

  

After lunch, we headed back to the airbnb to do some washing and keep warm before our 8.45pm cruise tonight. Sue is fighting off a congested chest and has been doing an amazing job at it - hasn't got worse over the last couple of days - so fingers crossed her efforts keep working. 3 train swaps to our cruise meeting point and we were about 30 mins early so decided to go for a walk between 2 bridges to kill some time. On the way we found these mirrors so took a photo:

Headed back to queue up for the cruise at 8.25pm. Bit of a chilly night, so we'd decided we would sit in the warmth. Here's me staying warm with my beanie:

As luck would have it, we snagged the last available seat with 2 x window seats. A few minutes later a couple asked if they could sit with us - which of course we answered yes 😉.

Both were from Wollongong and on their honeymoon. Then Scott proceeded to tell us he was a music teacher and taught drums - Sue was ecstatic. Those 2 rambled on, whilst Vanessa and I couldn't get a word in edge wise 😄!! Gosh it really is a small world. 

We took this cruise so I could see the Eiffel Tower flashing at night - which it does on the hour from 9pm for 5 mins. Sadly tonight it was only shining as their was a glitch and the flashing lights weren't working. Here it is lit up:

Despite the lack of a 'flashing Eiffel Tower' our conversation kept choofing along, and the cruise flew by in the blink of an eye. We said our good-byes and headed off to catch our metro trains. 

About 100m from the station entrance the church bells rang signalling 10pm and 'viola', the Eiffel Tower started to flash!! It really is a beautiful site and was a great end to a fun evening:

Tomorrow is our last day in Paris and we have decided to see 3 things we haven't been able to see thus far, but more about that tomorrow. It's late and I need my sleep.

Au revoir!!