The Louvre

Am I a philistine if I don't love the Louvre? It is too big for me, too crowded, and too hard to manage in a day. If I could get a yearly membership and see a couple of hours a week or month, I would love it. But the crowds...they come to take selfies. They don't know anything and are not there to learn.

We got up early having struggled yesterday to find tickets online. Maybe we could have rolled up to the door and got in a line, but we felt like we needed to be sure that Ellie saw the icons this first time in France. On the way to the Metro, we saw the amount of fresh cilantro and mint a South Asian restaurant needs.

We got our third delicious croissants of the week and took the train to the museum. While waiting for a train, we heard the Four Seasons being played. Turns out it was on our platform. This amazing violinist was playing her heart out. I dropped a couple of euros in her basket and she leaned to we to thank me, telling me that I was the first of the day. She was really good. A few others began to leave money. When we left, I turned to blow her a kiss and she returned the gesture. Lesson: interact with people. It rewards everyone. 

Along the way, we saw someone being photographed, I think for a magazine.

At the Louvre, we tried to take a highlights trail, which involved a crazy route, made crazier by my desire to minimize steps because my knees are misbehaving. That place is just enormous. Here is my obligatory Mona Lisa selfie. 

And here is what the crazy crowd queuing (sort of) looked like. There was no system. Press in and then squeeze out. Why? You can't really look at it in that crowd. The photo directing us to the queue was easier to study than the picture which is small and cordoned off quite far away. Why did I take a selfie? Because I was waiting for Phil and Ellie and I wanted to see what it was like. It was a weird ritual.

We saw the Venus de Milo and the Winged Nike of Samothrace, a couple of Michelangelos and some Delacroix. Here were my single favorite paintings:

After the Louvre (10-3pm) we got a late lunch of baguette sandwiches (salmon, goat cheese and tomatoes, and ham and cheese) at a French fast food place (and it was darn good, even at a fast food place!) and found our train to Rouen.

It is hot, so I tried to get water here

but ended up more successful here:

We got to our Airbnb (another lovely apartment) and walked around, eventually buying a simple dinner of sausage and tomatoes for an appetizer, and then steak, broccoli and sweet potato for dinner. We cooked it ourselves and it was again, delicious. We are excited about exploring a small medieval city!