Day 3 Part 1,

our last full day in Paris,

after breakfast over the road to the Metro station,

if you are used to the London underground, you will be at home with the system here, Diana and Kai buying the tickets,

there is one thing strange about the Metro, the trains run on rails,

but also have lorry sized tyres, perhaps to help with suspension?

our train is here, we are going to visit the Louvre, as it happens we have visited the museum before, way back in March 2018, there are lots of photographs there, so I have not taken so many this time as I did not want to duplicate them,

we entered the underground complex directly from the Metro station,

I was immediately drawn to this shop,

not because of its bright colors,

although that did help, it was noticeable the fact that every Asian tour group stopped at the window, to have their photographs taken,

as it happens I thought these Eiffel Tower chopstick helpers if you can not manage chopsticks a great idea, also they double up as chopstick holders,

inside the store it is a riot of colour,

Diana, Steve and Kai all having a look around the store,

time for a pose under the pyramid,

Diana first,

an amazing piece of engineering,

next Kai and Diana,

followed by a not very well lit me,

sans people,

looking up,

so many joints and stress points, amazing,

we had to buy our tickets to the museum,

we had about an hour to wait for our turn to enter,

so Steve and myself decided to pop upstairs,

for a coke, the girls had gone off window shopping,

they found us, so up and outside it was then,

not a cloud in the sky,

time for posing,

I made a not very good panorama of the outside,

another couple, 

from Diana,

and one from myself,

next a panorama with Steve and Kai,

it was getting to the time that we started queueing,

all in line,

I was so glad that I bought a hat yesterday, it was scorching hot,

when they have disappeared inside,

it will soon be our turn,

nearly there,

one more,

and we are inside,

where thankfully it is a lot cooler,

but the crowds,

I guess with it being summer and a Sunday, the crowds were to be expected,

but as we entered some of the galleries the number of people thinned out,

if you are gong to have a throne, I would have one like this, with cushions of course!

it is the throne of a priestess of Ceres, Roman goddess of Fertility,

we knew where we were going,

upstairs,

and along hugely decorative halls and ceilings,

time for a pose,

looking up,

the ceilings works of art in their own right,

follow the crowds,

because everyone here is looking to see one painting,

and her she is, the Mona Lisa, if you know of the painting, 

here are 10 things abut the painting that you may or may not know,

the strange thing is that in the same room a huge painting hangs on the opposite wall that very few take any attention of,

looking down from the second floor,

where we were early,

we continued through the galleries, but here took a break,

Diana,

Steve and Kai,

we started to make our way outside,

through the corridors,

that led to the exit,

out into the bright sunlight,

not a cloud in the sky,

a quick pose by the girls,

as we started walking back towards the river,

out of the complex,

and across the bridge,

to the book and souvenir sellers on the embankment,

Steve wanted to buy a couple of bits and pieces,

so we had a look as well,

this couple looked so nice, enjoying the afternoon sun, with a bite to eat and drink by the river,

we started the walk back,

passing this bridge,

I noticed these pedestals,

I particularly liked the lizard, 

that snaked its way around the column,

by now we were hungry and thirsty,

so we stopped here,

for a top up,

'Cheers!',

burgers, chicken and chips,

that will do nicely!

we carried on walking,

this bird was so shy, I could not get any closer,

one more, then I saw this,

a stern paddle steamer,

I had seen a couple in the river Thames, but never actually watched one working,

and here it is, I am stopping now as the post is a bit big, if you would like to see the rest of our day please click the  'Older Posts' button on the bottom right of the page.