Under a cloudy Paris Sky

After poking our noses in a local street market (looked great - fresh fish, meats, fruits, vegies, olives.. the list goes on) and another quick view the internals of Notre Dame we headed back down into the Met to ride to the Louvre. The size of this establishment is awesome, also it the way they have re-engineered the ticketing system. So there were the usual hordes of tourists and no queues. The place was packed, but not uncomfortable. We powered through the through the throngs in order to get a look at Da Vinci’s Lisa.
There is no doubt that they were up to something when it was being painted. That smirk is indicating either shenanigans or prescience in knowing that millions of people in the future will crowd around wondering what was going on when it was painted.
We then strolled the halls looking for the Venus de Milo – wondering why it was so relevant. On the way we found many different items ranging from Easter Island statues to bits off the Parthenon. When we found Venus we discovered that it was simply yet another ancient Grecian statue (head on, arms off). She is very nice though.
Lunch on the run this time was had on the steps of the Club Med Gym. French pastries taste good wherever they’re had. We then headed over to the Triumphant Archway, via a stroll along the Avenue Des Champs Elysees, which is home to all the expensive French designer labels. We spotted Louis Vuitton, Mont Blanc, Pierre Cardin, Renault, McDonalds and Peugeot amongst many more.
The crowds were truly extraordinary, millions of people (seemingly) all walking around with seemingly nowhere to go except the other end of the road. After a stroll around the Arc we headed off in the direction of the real shops (aka La Fayette). This is an amazing shop, built around a beautiful stained glass dome. Needless to say the stuff in here is quite costly. We hung around this area for a bit, viewing another toffy shop (Printemps) and following the never ending quest for attachments for bracelets. This was quite fun as we got to speak to some Parisians in expensive shops and endeavour to interpret what they were saying. A stroll through town and a park and another cruise on the ferries got us back to the Notre Dame river stop as the bells were ringing - and ringing and ringing... no wonder Quasi went a bit wacko.

For dinner we wandered into the small winding bustling streets of the Latin Quarter. All went well, as we left our restaurant the owner was very keen to introduce Izzy to his son. Admittedly she did look cute in her Beret and matching scarf, so very French looking and yet still Aussie through and through. No wonder he was stricken.