France day 8 of 17, the Louvre

Day 8 in France (Sept 9). What to feature from a visit to the Louvre? How about a beheading? Here is "Salome with the Head of John the Baptist" by Bernardino Luini.

We took a guided tour, which was a fast paced tour that allowed us to see the three most famous works, the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the Venus de Milo. We didn't spend much time in any one place, but it was a good intro to the museum

Here we are with old what's her name. The Mona Lisa is in a temporary area while renovations are underway.

Honestly, what can you say about the Louvre? Every work is more stunning than the last.

This five-meter sphinx is said to be the largest outside of Egypt. My photo happened to come out well, so it made the cut for the blog.

Hotel sweet hotel. We crashed after a long day of walking.

France day 7 of 17, Gary's French skills

This photo is from day 2 of our France trip, that's Jean d'Arc at L'église de la Madeleine. But at dinner on day 7 (Sept 8), I had my little success at speaking French. The waiter was a goofy little guy, and the restaurant was not busy, so he talked to us now and again in decent but imperfect English, and he complimented me on my mediocre French.

When we were done and ready for the check, I said, "Nous avons finis." (We have finished.)
And he said, "Moi, aussi, ha ha ha ." In other words, he was joking that he'd like to be finished, also.
And I said, "C'est d'accord." In other words, it was OK with me that he should also be finished. Ha ha ha.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but the cool thing was that I was not translating in my head. I was simply having a little joke with the waiter, en français.

On day 8, the Louvre.

France day 7 of 17, flea market

France trip, day 8, Sept 9, we have no pre-booked tours on this day, but we had planned for some time to spend the day at the flea markets. There are a few well known markets around Paris. We visited the largest, Marché aux puces á Saint Ouen.

This is a large shopping area for antiques and other old and new articles. Clothing, footwear, music, artwork, jewelry, etc. There are indoor shops, permanent stalls along outdoor sidewalks, and some less permanent stalls for the new stuff like sneakers and coats and hats. Overall, it is a maze of stalls on the north side of Paris. There are some inexpensive things, but overall, I did not find the merchandise inexpensive.

Although there are some curiosities in the shops, I didn't take any photos here except at a good café, Le Voltaire. You see here the photo of my Pelforth beer, which I had never had before. Pelforth is a French beer, a little dark, but not as malty as something like Guinness.

France day 6 of 17, shopping, opera house, shopping

Sept 7, day 6 of our trip to France.

This first photo is from E. Dehillerin, a retailer for kitchen utensils and equipment (not far from the Louvre, right bank). For those of you from Rochester, Dehillerin is to kitchens as Debbie Supply is to plumbing. Thanks to Karen for this recommendation.

We went next door for an espresso and ice tea for under 10 euros on the sidewalk, a much more reasonable deal than a couple days ago at Deux Magots on the left bank.

We took a guided tour of the Paris Opera House (Opéra Garnier). This is a view from the box in which the Phantom of the Opera sat. The view shows a similar box on the other side of the theatre. It is NOT the big box next to the stage, but the one next to that. On the Phantom's side from where I shot the photo, the big box next door is the "Emperor's box".

If you plan to take this after-hours tour which starts after the normal public visiting hours, let me know. You need to enter the building before the public hours end or else the guards give you a hard time (because they seem to be oblivious to the tour companies which are literally next to the security checkpoint). And the tour companies seem just as obvious to the fact that the security guards have their own schedule to keep. At the end of our tour, people from multiple tour groups were led through the gift shop, and the shop employees began having seizures because the shop was actually closed. Again, this is because the employees and tour operators were oblivious to each other.

After the opera house tour, we came across Galleries Lafayette, a multi-story department store. The photo is an indoor view looking down from an observation bridge.

The merchandise here was nice, but the prices varied from reasonable to exorbitant.

France day 5 of 17, Moulin Rouge and assundries

On day 5 in France, September 6, our main event was the show "Féerie" at the Moulin Rouge. The MR show is sort of like Cirque du Soleil, except MR has more song & dance (and female nudity) versus CdS which focuses on the acrobatics. There are some good acrobatics at MR, but not as extraordinary as CdS. There are male dancers, but they stay mostly dressed. The MR show's music was often disco-ish. This was a dinner show, and the food and wine were good. The show was crowded and the audience was cramped, and as usual I am always shocked that people pay to see these shows but can't figure out how to get through an hour and half without two trips to the rest room.

Here is the link in case the video doesn't play.

Near the Moulin Rouge we saw a uritrottoir, and we saw it in action. Seriously, the guy was there for more than a couple minutes (sorry, no photos). See this link about these outdoor, public urinals.

We have been using the Metro during the day. The locals warn tourists against the Metro at night. Some neighborhoods are OK, but of course, the point of the Metro is to move quickly and cheaply between neighborhoods. We have not had any trouble but we have witnessed some harassing behavior.

We have used Uber with no changes to my app. The cost is about 2/3 of a cab.

France day 4-5 of 17, high fashion, ice cream, more Notre Dame

Near our hotel is a high-end fashion retailer district. There was apparently some sort of show or party at Hermes on September 5. Click the video to see the live, male model in a tux, dancing in the shop window. There were a bunch of people with their cameras out, not sure who was inside.

If you can's see the video, try a link to Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/gary.gocek.3/videos/10103392168055065/
https://www.facebook.com/gary.gocek.3/videos/10103392168055065/
Across the street, the road continues toward the presidential palace and embassy row, and there were armed police restricting traffic. Pedestrians were not restricted. This police presence was apparently not related to the Hermes event, just happened to be in the same area.

A couple people recommended an ice cream shop (Berthillon) on île Saint-Louis, and we visited on our 5th day, September 6. There are two accessible islands in the Seine within Paris, île de la Cite (on which Notre Dame sits) and île Saint-Louis.

The restaurant was OK, but Susan's shish kebob (brouchette) had to be cooked a little more, and there was just one waiter for the Friday lunch crowd. The ice cream was good, but they were out of half their flavors. It was pretty expensive, 50 euros for lunch and drinks and ice cream. A number of nearby shops were still closed past their posted lunch breaks. So, a rather unfortunate experience on île Saint-Louis, even though we managed to replenish Susan's supply of moisturizer cream, which is an accomplishment in an unfamiliar language.

Just before lunch on day 5 (Sept. 6)  we walked around the Notre Dame Cathedral. This sits on a large city block, and at ground level, the area was completely blocked off to all public access. If there was a way into the grounds or church, we did not see it.

This photo shows a closer shot of some roof activity, compared to yesterday's post.

France day 3-4 of 17, Notre Dame and photobombed at Versailles

We are in the fourth day of out trip to France. I thought this selfie was cute, in which a bronze statue called "La Loire" (a representation of the Loire River) seems to have leaned into our photo. This is in the gardens outside the palace at Versailles. The gardens and palace are quite fantastic. These are run by the state and are not as commercialized as, well, anything in America.

We saw Notre Dame from a tour boat on our third day.

As you may know, there was a fire at Notre Dame Cathedral a few months ago. This first photo from BEFORE THE FIRE comes from HERE.

This next photo was taken by Gary during a boat tour down the Seine, from almost the exact same angle. You can see how the roof is gone, to the right of the twin towers. The center area scaffolding was probably there before the fire, since it is believed the fire was caused by an accident during a renovation project. At the right edge of the photo is more construction material, and I think that might be a recent roof covering. Also notice that the center spire is almost gone, having burned and collapsed.

I am not sure why the text colors changed here.