Looking at old things!
A day of culture
Bonjour!
Today’s plan was to look at some fancy architecture before heading on down to the Louvre, so we jumped on the Metro 1 Line (we’re pros at this now!), and got off close to the Passage des Panoramas
, one of Paris' oldest covered passages, which is basically a long passage lined with a bunch of different small stores and boutiques. We strolled for a bit, realized we were hungry, and found a nice Japanese place to nom down on some curry. Fun fact, the first time Malin saw prenom and nom on a reservation, she thought it meant appetizer and entre! What a silly goose! (He’s definately lying his head off!)
After lunch we walked over to the Opera house Palais Garnier
to take a look, and it was pretty stunning. These old Parisians sure knew how to build stuff! The last stop on this little journey was Galeries Lafayette
, a huge department store opened in 1894 (actually two stores, a his and hers). We rode the escalator up the nine floors, taking in the latest fashions, and took the last couple of flights of stairs up to the deck, for more amazing Paris views. I think we’ve basically climbed up everything we’ve visited, and so far it hasn’t disappointed!
Next up was a 20 minute stroll down Avenue de l’Opera, and we arrived at The Louvre
. We stood in line for a bit, taking in the surroundings (the courtyard you wait in is yuuuuge!), and after about 15 minutes we were let in.
We decided to get the most important painting done first, so we bee-lined towards the Mona Lisa, along with about 5 million other tourists! Once at the painting, you had to push and shove a little, and then it was your turn to take a photo, before the guard ushered you off. We spent some more time looking at paintings we recognized, before deciding we were as cultured as we were going to get, and headed off to the nearby gardens, Jardin des Tuileries, to enjoy some fresh air, sunshine and fountains, before taking the metro once again back to the hotel.
