Louvre

Wednesday was a big day for us. After a sizeable sleep-in (during which our guests abandoned Paris for Valencia, Spain) I did some washing at the laundromat next door (finished the Stephen King book too - pretty good, though the denoument seems a little rushed and convenient), and we bought some food at the local patisserie.

Thus fortified against hunger, we caught the Metro to the Louvre Museum (even the stop is lovely and decorative). This turned out to be a very good idea, as we skipped the big queues at the main entrance (by the glass pyramid designed by Chinese born American architect I.M.Pei).

After buying tickets from an automated machine, we set off on a semi-direct route to the Mona Lisa (by way of the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory). I managed to take us the wrong way, as they have since moved the Mona Lisa from her little room at the end of the Renaissance corridor (probably due to all the Dan Brown fans). However, we did pause on the way for me to do my big Renaissance nerd thing (poor Anna) - Botticelli, Giotto, Cimabue, Uccello, Piero della Francesa, Raphael, da Vinci, Fillipo Lippi, Fra Angelico, oh my!

It was Anna's turn next to walk me through the French Neoclassical painters - David, Delacroix, Gericault etc. Also of note were works by Albrecht Durer, Vermeer, Rubens, Michelangelo (sculptures).

We managed to make pretty good time, and over some six and a half hours we covered about 80% of the Louvre (not necessarily in a very linear fashion though). As well as the beautiful artworks on display, we found exhibitions of ancient Egyptian, Etruscan, Greek and Roman works, and the objets d'art of Islam and Medieval Europe.

Anna enjoyed the apartments of Napoleon III (extremely opulent!) while I took some time out to sit and eat chocolate.

Our evening was pretty quiet without the company of our friends Jan and Rebecca, and I'm afraid that CNN doesn't make for a relaxing night in front of the TV.