Realm of the superich - The Louvre, the Passages and the stylish shops of Paris

The Louvre Palace at the Coeur Napoleon
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Zut Alors! My feet ache!

Paris is very hard on the shoeleather but very pleasing to the eye. After a night out exploring the zinc bars of Le Marais last night I needed a brisk stroll to work off my alcohol battered head. Little did I know that my brisk stroll would last nine hours from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. With a couple of sitdowns at cafes to rest my weary legs.

Off this is another famous street Rue Faubourg St Honore which drips with designer shops - Hermes, Lagerfeld, Gautier and Yves St Laurent

The exquisite Tuileries gardens
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I'm also a hop, skill and a jump from Beaubourg and the Pompidou centre. I had a look at this last night and it will work as a nice contrast to the Louvre this morning (see review). The rear of the Louvre is at the start of the Rue du Rivoli which acts as a kind of posh high street to this part of Paris. The shops absolutely fascinate me around here. 1000 France bottles of wine are displayed in shop windows and delectable cakes are on show in pattisseries with queues stretching out of the door.

The spectacular Opera Garnier
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Once I had done the Louvre I came out overloaded with art and sat for five minutes in the Cour Napoleon which opens out into the beautiful Tuileries Gardens. Guarding this is the Arc de Carousel the first triumphal arch I had ever seen totally pink. Quite beautiful, but also quite camp in its own way. The Tuileries gardens are like nothing I have ever seen. They are very formal, French and artistic - not the rambling country-like English gardens. The hedges are sculpted into beautiful shapes, the statues of rearing horses are pure marble, colour coordinated flowerbeds, and plane trees sprout from white raked gravel. But it was a nice place to sit down after the Louvre and watch kids play with boats on the small pond.

The view from the Pompidou Centre
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At the western end we have Place de la Concorde. A huge traffic spinning square with gushing fountains with a huge Egyptian obelisque in its centre. I braved the demonic traffic and looked west down the Champs Elysee. There is the Voie Triumphal - the great eight laned boulevard with the Arc de Triumph at its far end. Paris sometimes seems built by giants. But the north side has the beautiful renaissance buildings. I wanted the road in between them - Rue Royale. Off this is another famous street Rue Faubourg St Honore which drips with designer shops - Hermes, Lagerfeld, Gautier and Yves St Laurent.Opposite Versace was the Elysee Palace - home of the French president.

North of here is 'Les Grandes Boulevards'  and at one major junction is the Opera Garnier - the Paris Opera. I just stood and stared at this beautiful building and backed up on a traffic island to get the whole facade in. I was getting hungry then and found a not-so-cheap restaurant which had a monoprix meal for 15 Francs including a glass of vin. The duck A'Lorange was beautiful with haricot verts.

I poked my nose into the huge department stores - Galleries Lafayette and Printemps but really wanted to find Place Vendome just south of Rue de la Paix. The square is riddled with passages and cloisters and opens out into a vast cobbled square. It is surrounded by 17th Century townhouses and a 100ft high green bronze column with Napoleon on its top. But housed in the arcades are the creme de la creme of Parisian shopping - Van Cleef for diamonds and Cartier for gold. I, of course, couldnt afford a thing but it was a good place to dream..

It was getting late as I headed back east along the Rue du Rivoli and its antique shops. I headed north to Les Halles, where Paris' old market used to be and now a modern shopping centre. But between this and the Pompidou centre are hundreds of cafes, restaurants, galleries, and cinemas. Incuding a redlight district on Rue St Denis. But in front of the Pompidou is where the crowds gather with buskers and the like. I I rode the transparent elevator up to the first level and hit it at the perfect time.

The sun was going down over Paris. I was exhausted but enjoying the view and the best free show in town.