Hop-on Hop-off

Bugger – I’ll try and write this again. The internet dropped out and I lost the lot.

Our second day in Paris over and busy from go to woah. We spent the day on the hop-on hop-off bus and eventually did the whole circuit. We started the day at the Paris Opera which is a short walk from the hotel. The opera house is now only used for ballet because it only seats 2500 people. Quite an interesting building with a special coach entrance for the Emperor to drive right in to the opera house.

Weather here is colder than we expected and we probably didn’t bring enough winter clothes. We will just layer up with what we have and they will eventually walk to the laundromat by themselves. Far too cold to sit on the outer upper deck of the bus so most of the photos were taken through glass so are a bit washed out. Was quite a slow tour on the bus but meant plenty of time to have a good look at the sights - Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, Place de la Concorde, Louvre, Seine.

The buildings are quite beautiful – a lot of ironwork balconies and window bars. And not a square block to be found. Some very short streets going all angles and some blocks only as big as the building on it. Not a skyscraper in sight – well only one and a bit controversial it was to build.

On Monday we thought what does everyone mean when they say the traffic is chaotic – that was until we saw the news Monday night and there was a traffic ban due to the pollution. Well yesterday the traffic was back in force. We watched mesmerized as the traffic managed the 12 way roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. Seems you just drive in and then slowly work your way where you want to go. The drivers here are much more patient than in Melbourne.

The Champs Elysee

We finished the day with a visit to the Musee d’Orsai. We waited in the queue for one hour – today we plan to be smarter and pre-purchase the tickets for the Louvre. There was a van Gogh exhibition and it was amazing to see so many of his works in one place, including the famous La Nuit Etoiles. Rob was also quite excited by the whole floor of Impressionist painters – Degas, Renoir, Monet, Manet, Sisley, Pissaro to name a few.

So today we have another full day planned starting with the Louvre, then Notre Dame, then unplanned. Now breakfast calls so time to get moving.