The Louvre

September 24

We took it easy this morning, sleeping late and having a petite dejeuner of pain au choclat and tea.  It had rained overnight and in the morning, but had stopped when we went out. When we eventually headed out, we took the Metro to the Louvre. When we got into the square outside I.M. Pei’s triangle, we could see a line-up that stretched the full length of the courtyard.

As we approached, we saw there was a cordoned off area for ticket holders. As we had museum passes, we asked if this is where we went, and alleluia, it was!  Merrily skipping ahead of thousands of people, we entered through the escalators in the triangle.

The entry level of the Louvre was teeming with people. April likened us all to ants in the most fabulous ant farm!   We headed off to see George de la Tour’s Card-Sharper.  Walking miles and miles to get to the room, it wasn’t there!  I then headed off to see the Vermeers, hoping they weren’t out on tour!

On my way, I saw hundreds of paintings that I would love to spend hours examining.  It was a shame to run through the Rembrandt rooms, paying little attention to his wonderful paintings.  I saw wonderful Van Dycks and then found the Vermeers – both right where they were supposed to be.

Obviously I’m not the only one interested in Vermeers – no one was around most of the Rembrandts but there was always a crowd around the Vermeers.  The two owned by the Louvre are the Astronomer and the Lacemaker.

I saw lovely Fra Angelicos, and Cimabue’s Maesta. We then headed over to see the Italian paintings. We didn’t think we’d push our way through to the Mona Lisa, but I wanted to see the other Leonardos.

The crowds were stifling- and no matter which way I went, it seemed I was always going upstream!  We finally did get to Leondardo’s Virgin and Saint Anne, Virgin of the Rocks, Saint John the Baptist and others. We peeked into the Mona Lisa room and got three quarters of the way up, but didn’t press any further.

We saw the Rubens’ Catherine of Medici series. The scale of these paintings is amazing.

We headed into a cafeteria in the Louvre for lunch and got there about 1:30. I sat and April got in line. She was almost 30 minutes in line (and $30 in cost) for two salads!

After leaving the Louvre we went down to the Tuilleries and then crossed Rue Rivoli and went into a café. It was very windy, but refreshing after the crowds. April had an apple tart and I had a crepe sucre. April ordered un Americano et lait and I ordered a café latte, but we both got lattes.

Now around 4 PM, we decided to head to Notre Dame. Using our transit passes, we got on at the Tuilleries’ station and out at le Cite. We went into Notre Dame and asked where we took the tour as our Museum pass provided for that.  We ended up just walking around as I suspected the “tour” was just an audio guide.  If I felt I was going upstream in the Louvre, I was a real salmon in Notre Dame as we did go clockwise and everyone else went counter-clockwise.

After leaving Notre Dame, we decided to go up to Les Halles and to try and find a kitchen store called Dehillerin.  We decided to get a cab rather than walk back to the Metro.  Instead of just giving the address to the driver, we just said “Les Halles”. He let us out at the corner and said to go up and right.  I don’t know if he meant the area or the shopping centre but we walked quite a way before finding the place we were looking for.

Along the route, we passed the Church of St. Eustache, which reminded me of Quebec. 

The Dehallerin store was something else. Opened in 1820, they specialize in high end baking and cooking items. Everything is jammed in and goes up and up and up. There are ladders for the staff to pull out that copper pot, or mandolin. When you decide what you want, you stand in line.  A clerk writes down what you have.  You then fill in your name and address on the sheet.  You then wait in line and hand over that sheet.  That woman gives the sheet to a second woman who types the information into a computer and prints off an invoice. The first woman then tells you what you owe, takes your money and gives you your change. You then take the computer generated invoice over to another staff member who now wraps your items!

After that adventure, we needed a glass of wine.  We found a corner café and sat for a few minutes.  I then saw a pharmacy and went over to see if I could get something for the congestion I still had from my cold.  Mon dieu! The pharmacist was talking with a woman about her medication. I am sure we were standing for 15 minutes and they were still chatting.  I then saw the other line had emptied, so moved over and told the other pharmacist how I had a rheume and un mal du gorge.  I brought out a box that looked like Sudafed or Advil cold.  He then asked me if I had an addict.  Addict? Oui, Madam, an addict.  “Je ne comprends pas, monsieur” I said, thinking if he thought I was an addict, did he expect me to acknowledge it? On the third attempt, he pointed to his forehead – addict.   Oh, headache.  Non monsieur, no addict.

We then scooted across the street to a little grocery store to pick up baguette, cheese, pate, water, and some small items for while we were here. Well, the bags were pretty full and the plastic was pretty flimsy.  My baguette was crushed before I got very far. 

We looked at the map and were going to walk home as it looked like it was only two Metro stops.  However, as I read the map, I thought we should go one way but April said we were going back to the river and we needed to go the other. I was pretty sure and suggested we go a few blocks.  After passing the Bourse (stock exchange) I saw two police and asked for directions. Station Sentier – en haut, pointing the direction I was walking.  Non, madam, they smiled, en bas!

At that point we decided to take the Metro.  Les Halles at rush hour.  If my baguette hadn’t already been crushed and mangled, it would have had no hope in this crowd.  A couple of stops later we were walking up the stairs of Bonne Nouvelle, “our” Metro station.

We got home and were enjoying our mangled baguette and pate (with April lamenting, we should have bought a bottle of wine).  The owner’s son-in-law called and said he’s be over to pick up the rest of the rent and to look at the toilet seat, as it was broken.

Madame Galperine’s son-in-law, Robert Earhart, dropped in. He’s originally from California and has been to Calgary and has skied in Banff.  When looking at the toilet, we noticed the pipe was dripping.  When I had spoken to him on the phone, I asked if there was something I needed to do to get warm water and we discovered that the breaker was off. I turned it back on and I think that’s what caused the leak to show. He said they had a plumber in to put in a meter and it looks like it was not done correctly.  Thanks goodness he was here when it happened. He called immediately and they will be sending a plumber to fix it tomorrow.  He also brought over a bottle of red wine for us from the owner, so April did get her glass of wine.

The plan for tomorrow is for April to stay around the apartment and I will head to the Musee D’Orsay. She is museumed out and wants to save her energy for Versailles on Wednesday.