Lost in France

Knocking over two days in one with this blog post as they both centred around museums.

We had nothing planned for Wednesday but Teneille was keen to replace a fridge magnet we bought in Paris seven years ago and had since been destroyed. The magnet was Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night in a frame but all 3D and crap. We'd walked a couple of the souvenir stalls along the Seine the day before without luck and thought perhaps we had bought the original at Musee D'Orsay where most of the Van Gogh's in Paris are displayed.

With that goal in mind, we decided to wander towards the museum. The only problem we encountered was my hectic work schedule of the past few weeks seemingly caught up with me and I was unable to get out of bed before lunch. Lucky nothing was booked.

After I'd managed to rouse myself we left the apartment and headed towards Musee D'Orsay. Teneille was extremely thrilled to observe a man relieving himself openly and publicly in a local garden and even more thrilled to have "locked eyes with him" before she realised what he was doing.

We briefly crossed the river to the Jardine de Tuileries where the Olympic cauldron remained grounded so Teneille could have a look. The thing is massive. I didn't realise how big it was several nights previously when I had visited because it had been airborne. But seeing it on land was an entirely different experience.

The Olympics is over but the garden is still closed off to the public because of the cauldron.

By the time we resumed our journey to the museum we had learned two things about Teneille:

1. She can't walk past a busking musician without giving them some sort of payment.
2. She is step blind. That is, blind to small steps. The number of small steps or ledges along the Seine she just didn't see, even if warned about them, was concerning. She tripped at least three times.

We eventually reached Musee D'Orsay having already achieved our goal (a souvenir stall we passed on our walk stocked the magnet Teneille desired) but Teneille had by this stage decided she wanted to enter the museum. We did D'Orsay last time we were here and hadn't planned to visit again but it was hot outside and there was no line so in we went.

Musee D'Orsay... Not bad for an old train station, eh?

We spent a couple of hours walking around. Saw the Vincent van Gogh paintings, the Monets and Manets and Renoirs. There were some cool models and paintings of Paris and its various landmarks that we didn't remember seeing last time. The details in some of the sculptures throughout the museum always amaze me given the lack of technology at the time of their creation.

While the artistry on display is of quite a high level, you do wonder if some of the artists over-focused on some areas of their work to the detriment of others. Take the below Manet for example. Observe the perfect shape and structure of the breasts. See how the light and shadows play across her alabaster skin. Admire the tone and change of colour as you drift down her body. Now look at the cat.

The cat stares into your soul. Thanks, Manet.

It was quite crowded inside the museum so we left after we felt we'd seen enough. I couldn't tell you how busy the museum was on our last trip but I do know it wasn't at this level. There are definitely a lot of people in town due to the Olympics and summer holiday period - something we didn't have to contend with on our last visit.

We headed back to the apartment after exiting the museum where I semi-collapsed while Teneille headed to the supermarket to grab something for dinner so we could eat in. We did venture out again, though, at dusk for an after-dinner walk to explore the neighbourhood.

We just started walking in a direction we hadn't headed in yet and eventually hit the gates of the Luxembourg Palace. On the way back home we stumbled across what can only be described as a gathering of people on the side of the road who really loved salsa dancing. There were numerous couples dancing the evening away on the footpath. Like, get a community hall or something you weirdos.

A 3D model cross-section at Musee D'Orsay of Palais Garnier AKA the opera house.

We learned our third thing about Teneille that night as well: Her sense of direction is shocking. This has never been an issue for Teneille so we aren't sure what's happened to degrade this ability so much. But several times now she has pointed in the opposite direction to the place we are trying to get to. I am concerned she could get Lost in France like Bonnie Tyler in 1977.

Thursday dawned to the sound of phone alarms as we were booked to enter the Louvre at 9am. We got up, dressed and headed out the door. The line for pre-booked tickets for a 9am entry was massive but it moved quite quickly once they opened the doors.

We visited the Louvre last time but a return was an absolute must for us. Apart from the fact the place is so big there's no way you saw half the stuff in one visit, we had to go back to see the Napoleonic apartments which were closed for renovations on our last trip.

Thankfully, this was not the case this time around and we successfully navigated ourselves to the wing where the apartments were open for viewing. If you love red and you have a weakness for gold and you are impartial to chandeliers, then the Napoleonic apartments are the place for you. The intricate detail in every square centimetre of every room is breathtaking. We had made our way directly to the apartments upon entering the Louvre so when a mother with her young teenage daughter entered shortly after us you could hear the gasp the daughter let out when she entered the main ballroom, mouth agape. We imagined that would be how Emily would react.

I'd throw a party here. Thongs permitted.

Oh look, Teneille touching stuff she shouldn't. My, how she has changed in seven years.

Maintenance and restoration in the apartments would be painstaking given the detail. There was one information panel which stated there were 24 sets of curtains in the apartments that had to be hand woven to be replaced as the time and light degraded the existing ones. It took two years. For curtains.

Like the previous day at Musee D'Orsay, the crowds at the Louvre were pretty intense. We felt like we navigated the museum a lot better than last time we were in Paris but there were still times we were aiming for somewhere only to end up in a completely different spot. The place is huge and not easy to find your way around. Rooms have signage to let you know what particular era or topic is on display but not every room shows its number. There are some areas where you need to go downstairs and then back up to access. Teneille didn't like that. But that's what you get when you change a big-ass palace into a big-ass museum. Palaces are built for opulence and displays of vast wealth that eventually lead to a public uprising and the overthrowing of the monarchy, not weary travelers who just want to find the Egyptian exhibits.

Napoleonic apartments aside, we definitely saw a heap of stuff we don't remember seeing last time. We ticked off the usuals, like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo, as well. A quick lunch and a quick stop along the souvenir strip at Rue de Rivoli to get something specific for the children and we headed home.

Tomorrow will be our first day trip outside the city when we brave the rail network to visit Amiens for a tour of the Somme battlefields from WWI of which Australian soldiers played a big part.

Until then, au revoir.