While I travel a fair amount, it's been a long time since I've truly been a tourist. I spent a month in Lyon when I was 17 and never made it so far as Paris; this was a first.
Paris Flea Market. We ate at Chez Louisette on recommendation, the food was so-so and the Edif Piaf impersonator was excellent.
There were three Louvre surprises:
- Dad told me that the Louvre is enormous and you couldn't possibly do it in a day. I took that with a grain of salt coming from the man who when halfway through visiting the Tate Modern gave me a look of boredom and said "How much did we pay for this?" (it was free and we left soon after that). Dad was right about the Louvre. Dad is usually right about most things.
- I've heard from more than one source that the Mona Lisa is much smaller than they expected it to be. I took that to mean that it was going to be tiny, maybe A4. In the end it turned out to be the average portrait size. I guess that I'm one of the few people who expected it to be smaller.
- The Winged Victory of Samothrace; as often as it would crop up in art history classes it was never stated that the pedestal that it rests on is shaped like a ship.
More than anything the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsey reminded me, with fondness, of quite a few people from back in the day. Jaskot and Pohlad for their passionate surveys of European art; Parham (Les raboteurs de parquet) and Orlowicz (Oath of the Horatii).
Learning French in California, from an American, over 10 years ago still hasn't paid off. With exception to my ability to talk endlessly about omelette options and obscure beverages that no one seems to drink in France. Menthe d'leau?
The gridwork in the Eiffel tower was prettier than I expected. Didn't go up it though, no. No more jaunts up tall tourist attractions, not since St. Paul's made me cry.
My favorite part of the whole trip was exploring Paris on a bicycle. Bliss.
