Paris - The Louvre

After last night's rain it was lovely and sunny this morning. We had a walk through the Tuileries before breakfast and then came back to the hotel for a rather excellent breakfast. Although we have visited Paris many times we have never been to the Louvre, as the queues were always so long and the vast size of the museum just put us off. Today we decided to rectify that, and after getting fast access tickets from the concierge we set off to go visit the museum. We walked through the Tuileries again, where people were enjoying the sunshine (see extra) and then just walked in to the museum and had no queues at all - what a pleasure. The secret is to access the museum through the 99 Rue de Rivoli entrance and not the one below the pyramids.

It is so vast that it is exhausting just deciding what to see! We agreed on going to see Mona, and then a few select pieces. Of course we knew that the Mona Lisa was a tiny painting and there would be a horde of people clustered around it - just my luck to have the only 7 ft man in Paris standing in front of me while I was trying to see the painting! However,  the deep crowd soon shuffled on and we got to see this well known painting (see extra). I have also added an extra of a view from inside the Louvre looking out, and my blip is of the concourse below the pyramid.

We then walked along the river to see Notre Dame - it had to be done although we have seen it many times before - then on to the Latin Quarter to see a favourite bookshop (Shakespeare's Book Shop) and we were about to wander through St Germain when the heavens opened and it started raining heavily. We walked back to our hotel which was not too far from there and that coincided with Luke arriving after his day at the Cordon Bleu cooking school. He had a fantastic day, both at the market being taught how to select the best produce, and then cooking a 2 course meal afterwards. 

We are now about to go out for a drink followed by dinner at a restaurant in St Germain. Tomorrow, Luke has a full day planned for us before we fly home again. It is now sunny again and tomorrow should be a good day too.