johnsunter.com >> adventures - europe >> city visits 2 >> paris
Long weekend in Paris with a long awaited trip to the Louvre.
A friend and I went to visit Paris for a few days.
Off we travelled at the hospitality of those orange uniformed people at easyjet. I booked our accommodation on hostelworld.com I unfortunately, didn't realize it was right in the middle of the red light district.
Still, the tacky 'ness of the venue made the trip exciting. Here, Frances stands in front of the Eiffel tower.
I know that the tower and tourism are a bit of a cliche, but as anyone who has ever stood in front of it will tell you, it is spectacular.
To complete the Cliche theme, I am photographed under the Arc de Triomphe.
There is a roundabout right near here, which is terrifying to look at, as it has something like 9 lanes.
The Weather was fantastic the whole time we were there.
Although I have been to Paris before, I have never visited the Louvre, so we made straight for it.
We sat outside in the sun next to the controversial pyramid.
We spent most of our evening, having dinner on river boat restaurants, and we also managed to find an Irish pub that sold pints, so I was sorted.
I am not much into art, so I don't know the names or the details of the pictures on this page (apart from Mona Lisa obviously).
I just took pictures and enjoyed the things that I found inspiring. Here, a Chandelier, which is around 20 feet wide.
I wonder how long it took to make.
In this picture, my friend stands next to the biggest picture I have ever seen.
The Louvre had a section on interiors, on pictures and on sculptures to name but a few.
The guidebook we had said a full appreciation of the Louvre would take a minimum of 4 days !.
There were thousands upon thousands of pictures like this.
Been to Paris before, but never seen it, and ALWAYS wanted to.
What must easily be the most famous picture of all time.
This was the closest I could get to it, as the crowd around it didn't wane in the 3 hours that I was there.
It was everything I thought it would be.
Part of the sculpture section.
The light and ambience in this room had to be experienced to be believed. it was like sitting in the heavens.
As I said in the Gaudi section about Barcelona, I am not really what you would call cultured, but this was almost a spiritual moment for me !.
