Je suis allé à Paris
On my arrival in Paris yesterday my first thought was to completely collapse and sleep, but I wasn't going to waste my first afternoon in France.
I wandered through the Parisian streets (marvelling at the fact that I was in PARIS - it seems something of a fantasty when you've grown up literally on the other side of the world). I visited Notre Dame, which is an impressively large structure, but not as pretty as I expected (I kept comparing it to the stunning Notre Dame du Montréal - and then lamenting the loss of my pictures of Montréal).
I then took a quick trip across to le Jardin du Luxembourg - very pretty (large) gardens, although all throughout Paris there are beautifully kept little parks and squares on every corner, or so it seems. By this stage I really was almost collapsing from exhaustion, so I came back to the hostel & did just that.
Today the entire day was spent in the Musée du Louvre for some intense art appreciation. I arrived fairly early & didn't have to wait long in ticket lines etc, but there were still thousands of people everywhere. Of course I didn't see everything, but even so, I saw so much that it all begins to get muddled together.
I did take many breaks to rest my legs, and to do one of my favourite museum activities: people watching. Apart from the slightly depressing/disturbing realisation (as a sole traveller) that apparently everyone else in the world is in a couple, it's always entertaining to observe other people. I'm always fascinated by what other people choose to take photos of - today especially: not only the "this is me in front of a famous artwork" shots, but also the "this is a posed-candid of me gazing thoughtfully at a piece of semi-famous art" shots. It's hard not to laugh sometimes.
