J'adore Paris

I have decided to curb my addiction to the online Lonely Planet Shop and have instead rediscovered the (far cheaper) pleasures of armchair travel through photo albums. I was looking over my European vacation from May - June 2001 for inspiration. Okay so I will probably own up right here that when I say "European", I really mean "France and Italy". But come on, let me sound cosmopolitan just this once.

So Paris, just the one picture for now - no point showing you everything first up, right?



And if you're a fan of Dan Brown's work, or if you're a plain old travel fan, you'll recognise the picture above. Pretty impressive photography to capture the lamp posts, don't you think? Stupid things.

I loved Paris, and I spent a whole day at The Louvre, wandering its many corridors, admiring its countless works of art. And I have to say, I'm not normally an art buff, or much of an art gallery fan. However, I was bowled away by how easy it was to spend the entire sunlit day wandering up and down, in and out of the exhibits. Given that I speak French, I refused to pay the exorbitant fee for the CD-ROM Louvre guides. However, I am intrigued by egyptology exhibits and the Egyptian artworks in the Louvre are just breathtaking. Problem is, my French studies focussed mostly on conversations, social settings and such. Never did we undertake a unit on Egyptian tools and art media. So needless to say, I hadn't brushed up on my vocab. Was I wishing for the CD-ROM? Perhas a little bit. But I nodded to myself, and looked impressed at the workmanship, pretending that I knew what I was looking at. Because to me that's what Paris was about - looking busy, looking the part, and trying to look at everyone else at the same time. Phew, it was exhausting. But I loved every minute.