Day 5: Sad day for me

The morning of Alex's last day in Paris was tough. Neither of us wanted to wake up, but that we did. We checked out of the hotel around 11, knowing that we were going to grab breakfast, head to my apartment so that I could drop my stuff off, and then head to the Louvre for the rest of the day until we had to go to the airport.

We got some pastries at that bakery we had bought bread at the day before. They were quite delicious.

Near my apartment every Wednesday and Saturday there is an open market. After I dumped my suitcase, we walked through. Alex was very envious. Both of us wish that those markets existed in the US. Some of the food you can buy is still alive!

Next, we went to find the Louvre. After a little confusion getting off the metro, we found the entrance which is the big glass pyramid. We bought our tickets and checked Alex's duffel bag and headed off to see some art.

The Louvre is huge. There is no way a person can see all that's in it in one day. I picked out the famous works of art that a person has to see like the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, etc, and off we went.
Since I have seen most of this stuff already, I found it more entertaining to look at the clamor over getting a good picture of/in front of famous works of art. People were literally shoving each other to get a picture of a statue with no arms. I backed off while Alex fought for one.

Next, I saw this thing and immediately thought it was a bathtub. Unfortunately it is something where they put dead people. Doesn't it look like it should be a tub? (Can you tell what I am missing about home?)


"Winged Victory" is my favorite art piece ever. It is so intricate. I could stare at it for an hour.

Alex and I shoved our way into the Italian wing where the Mona Lisa is. We first saw "Madonna of the Rocks". This led Alex to make a stupid joke about how there should be a drink called "Madonna on the rocks". My rolling my eyes never even so much as discourages him. *sigh*

We got to the Mona Lisa. I had warned Alex about how small it is. This is one of the most disappointing things for a lot of tourists. They imagine some huge portrait, and all they get is a measily 24" x 12" painting.


This did not stop about 50 people from trying to get as close as possible to it's roped-off, bullet-proof glass-encased self.



On the opposite wall there is a HUGE painting. I liked that it included doggies.


This is Henry VIII I think.
Here is a very famous French painting about the Revolution. There's Marianne (the name for "lady liberty" here), topless as ever.

Napoleon atop his horse, which looks like the most depressed animal ever.

Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc), my homegirl.

Nice hair, Spanish girl.
At these paintings, which are of people made out of fruit/other things, there was a kindergarten class who were making their own drawings like it. Imagine going on fieldtrips to the most famous museum in the world!

Diana, the huntress, also my homegirl

Alex and I found the room that pretty much summed up what Versailles was like. This was the room where the kings kept the crown jewels, back when they had heads.



I like how the below jewelry box is fancier than any jewelry I will ever own.

Finally, we wanted to see the Scandinavian art. It was a tiny room, but I found an artist I really like from, where else, Norway.

I wanted to go out to the gardens to sit, but Alex wanted to see the Iranian art. We ended up going on a wild-goose chase for a bit. Oh well, there were cool mosaics.

We went out to the Jardins des Tuileries, the gardens in front of the Louvre, to sit down and find a sandwich before heading to the airport. Sitting on actual grass was nice. I bought a baguette and immediately was ambushed by pigeons. I scattered them and gave some bread to a little finch. The finch actually took the bread from my hand! It was so cute.

After a train ride to the airport, Alex and I got there pretty early. We had about an hour to kill before he could go through to his gate, so we sat and waited.


There was this really interesting thing called "Safe bag" near us, where they pretty much wrap people's checked luggage in saran wrap. I don't really know how this protects stuff from getting damaged (stolen, I can understand), but apparently it does. Alex and I were pretty mesmerized by it's spinning action.

Unfortunately, it soon was time for him to go through security. Boo. I hate this part. I watched him through and was all teary and the security guy was looking at me like I was crazy. Oh well.

I bought a newspaper to read on the train home, and got back around 10. Alex had a safe flight home to Dublin, and I was alone. Oh well, I hope to see him in a few weeks in London!