PARIS TRIP: DAY 2: Paris
Paris, Thursday, 15 June 06
(written on 17 June)
By the time Guillaume finished and left, it was 9 am. The weather didn’t seem to be great, so doing museums would be the best idea. From the guidebook I made a list of the museums I definitely wanted to visit and decided that a 4-day museum pass would be worth getting. The advantage of the pass would be that I could visit these museums more than once, and that’s what I have in mind for the Louvre.
I got a sandwich (cheese and peppers?) from a nearby shop and ate it on the way. This was really delicious.
I walked along the Seine to the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall. The Virgin Megastore in there doesn’t sell the museum card anymore and they directed me to a tobacco shop near the entrance. The Carte Musées et Monuments is available to 2, 4 or 6 days. My 4-day pass costed EUR 45, and I also got a telephone card for EUR 15.
I finally entered the Louvre (I entered through the mall, and that way avoided supposedly huge queues at the main entrance) at around noon.
I went straight to the Egyptian antiquities section. 
I really wanted to do this because Napoleon who had taken a group of Savants during his visit to Egypt and they collected a lot of things, and later because of interest in Egyptology, and especially Champollion’s efforts France acquired a famous Egyptian collection.
About a year ago I had read a book on how the Hieroglyphic script was deciphered by Champollion and others. 
From the Egyptian section I moved to the Greek pottery and then to Greek and Roman sculptures that includes the
Borghese Gladiator, the Winged Victory of Samothrace,
the Vénus de Milo 
and Michelangelo’s two unfinished giants “getting released” from the marble.
While still in the museum, Prashanth called me, and we decided I’ll talk to him a bit later. During that time, there was a power cut in the Louvre. The basic lights were restored almost immediately, but not the general lighting, the escalators and the like. I decided it was time to go to the next museum. I called Prashanth from a public phone. A bunch of Indians working in Alliance Françoise in India were visiting the organization he works in and he was supposed to take them to visit the Musee d’Orsay later on. Since I wanted to visit it too (and contrary to the guidebook’s indication, this is indeed included in the museum card), I decided that I’d go there and meet up with him after they finish.
I walked in the Jardin des Tuileries to the Arc du Carrousel, a mini Arc de Triomphe built for Napoleon. Then to the Seine, crossed it and walked along it to the Musee d’Orsay.
Musee d’Orsay was originally a train station, but the platforms were too short for modern trains and instead of demolishing it, they turned it into a museum of art between 1848 and 1914. 
It has a formidable collection of pre-Impressionism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism: Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Seurat, Cezanne, Pissarro, Gauguin, Manet, Delacroix, and so on.
It was amazing. I got there at 3:30 pm and finished at 8 pm. Prashanth and co. were done around 9:15 pm (the museum closes at 9:45 pm) and I met them after that. Two girls decided to join us, but one is vegetarian and the other insisted that she wanted to have Döner kebab or Giros, so the former had pizza and the rest of us had Giros from the Quartier Latin, on the banks of the Seine. After that the girls left and Prashanth and I went to a bar in the Marais, called Open Café. It wasn’t very full, but it was, after all, a Thursday evening.
I walked back home at about 1 am. I didn’t want to disturb Guillaume (but saw the door of his bedroom open), so converted the couch into a bed and went to bed. At about 1:30 am, Guillaume got back… so I managed to go to the loo again, although it was not essential, as I had gone in the bar before leaving.
(written on 17 June)
By the time Guillaume finished and left, it was 9 am. The weather didn’t seem to be great, so doing museums would be the best idea. From the guidebook I made a list of the museums I definitely wanted to visit and decided that a 4-day museum pass would be worth getting. The advantage of the pass would be that I could visit these museums more than once, and that’s what I have in mind for the Louvre.
I got a sandwich (cheese and peppers?) from a nearby shop and ate it on the way. This was really delicious.
I walked along the Seine to the Carrousel du Louvre shopping mall. The Virgin Megastore in there doesn’t sell the museum card anymore and they directed me to a tobacco shop near the entrance. The Carte Musées et Monuments is available to 2, 4 or 6 days. My 4-day pass costed EUR 45, and I also got a telephone card for EUR 15.
I finally entered the Louvre (I entered through the mall, and that way avoided supposedly huge queues at the main entrance) at around noon.
I went straight to the Egyptian antiquities section. 
I really wanted to do this because Napoleon who had taken a group of Savants during his visit to Egypt and they collected a lot of things, and later because of interest in Egyptology, and especially Champollion’s efforts France acquired a famous Egyptian collection.
About a year ago I had read a book on how the Hieroglyphic script was deciphered by Champollion and others. 
From the Egyptian section I moved to the Greek pottery and then to Greek and Roman sculptures that includes the
Borghese Gladiator, the Winged Victory of Samothrace,
the Vénus de Milo 
and Michelangelo’s two unfinished giants “getting released” from the marble.
While still in the museum, Prashanth called me, and we decided I’ll talk to him a bit later. During that time, there was a power cut in the Louvre. The basic lights were restored almost immediately, but not the general lighting, the escalators and the like. I decided it was time to go to the next museum. I called Prashanth from a public phone. A bunch of Indians working in Alliance Françoise in India were visiting the organization he works in and he was supposed to take them to visit the Musee d’Orsay later on. Since I wanted to visit it too (and contrary to the guidebook’s indication, this is indeed included in the museum card), I decided that I’d go there and meet up with him after they finish.
I walked in the Jardin des Tuileries to the Arc du Carrousel, a mini Arc de Triomphe built for Napoleon. Then to the Seine, crossed it and walked along it to the Musee d’Orsay.
Musee d’Orsay was originally a train station, but the platforms were too short for modern trains and instead of demolishing it, they turned it into a museum of art between 1848 and 1914. 
It has a formidable collection of pre-Impressionism, Impressionism, post-Impressionism: Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Seurat, Cezanne, Pissarro, Gauguin, Manet, Delacroix, and so on.
It was amazing. I got there at 3:30 pm and finished at 8 pm. Prashanth and co. were done around 9:15 pm (the museum closes at 9:45 pm) and I met them after that. Two girls decided to join us, but one is vegetarian and the other insisted that she wanted to have Döner kebab or Giros, so the former had pizza and the rest of us had Giros from the Quartier Latin, on the banks of the Seine. After that the girls left and Prashanth and I went to a bar in the Marais, called Open Café. It wasn’t very full, but it was, after all, a Thursday evening.
I walked back home at about 1 am. I didn’t want to disturb Guillaume (but saw the door of his bedroom open), so converted the couch into a bed and went to bed. At about 1:30 am, Guillaume got back… so I managed to go to the loo again, although it was not essential, as I had gone in the bar before leaving.
posted by A.S. at 3:36 PM
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