The Louvre and Versailles

Band group at the Louvre
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Day two of our trip went much smoother.  The first stop was the Louvre Museum.  We got there early and the entrance courtyard (with the famous glass pyramids) was mostly empty.  Our Paris tour guide led us through the excavated original fortress walls, then to the famous ancient statues (including the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace).  We toured through Italian paintings including a crowded stop at the Mona Lisa by da Vinci.  You couldn't get close enough to really appreciate the painting, however.  Across from the Mona Lisa was the huge Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese, which due to its size and detail, was very impressive--and quite a contrast to the Mona Lisa.  We continued on to the French paintings--the huge Coronation of Napoleon was the highlight--then on to modern sculptures.  When we exited to the entrance courtyard, it was amazing how long the lines to enter the museum had grown.

Mona Lisa
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We took a lunch break at the Grand Opera House.  I ate onion soup at a bistro across the street from the Opera House.  Normal people were eating inside but being a tourist, I had to eat outside for the "atmosphere".  I did a little shopping at the Lafayette Department store and was amazed by the huge interior space which housed a 5 story tall Christmas tree and was covered by a stain glass dome.

Then it was on to Versailles.  Since we arrived in the afternoon, there were long lines at the ticket gate and entrances.  One good thing about being in a large tour group was that the reservations were made in advance.  We toured the gardens first.  Even in the dead of winter the gardens were interesting but obviously I will need to come back sometime when the fountains are flowing and the flowers are blooming.  It felt much colder than in Paris and it was--the water in the pools were frozen over. There was a special exhibit in the King's State Apartment so photography was forbidden.  It didn't matter since the rooms were lit only by fake candles to recreate the atmosphere of 1700's.  The themes and ceiling paintings in the rooms were lost in the dim, however.  When we reached the Hall of Mirrors, everyone whipped out their cameras/camcorders in anticipation.  Again the lighting was only from the fake candles in the chandeliers--the windows only provided faint cold blue winter light.  As we walked down the hall, a large "asian" tour group stormed through and shoved everyone down the hall.  I was able to move to the side, away from their wake.  I remember a member of our group sarcastically yelling "can you push harder?".  After the tour group exited I was able to leisurely enjoy the hall. The Queen's State Apartment was well illuminated but there was one display that was clearly marked "No Flash".  Members of an "asian" tour group (same one?, I don't know) ignored the signs and were taking flash pictures.  A staff member shrilly yelled "NO FLASH, PLEASE" repeatedly to no avail.  It was a simultaneously hilarious and sad scene. After returning to the hotel, I had dinner at a Montmartre sushi restaurant.  Thank god they didn't serve frites.  I then caught the Metro for a night-time tour of the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees.  Unfortunately the passage to the top of the Arc closed early that night and I just missed climbing to the top.  Instead, I did a little shopping on the Champs Elysees before calling it a day.