last time i wrote, i'd just had a really crap day in london... but it was all looking up from there, sort of.

so after the crap day, i also had a crap night... staying in a hostel was interesting, but i sure did miss a good night's sleep. this was particularly evident on my last night. i had bought a eurostar ticket to paris that left london at 7:20am. yes, yaaawwwn, so early!! so with that in mind, i was getting up at 5am, and in for an early night. i was staying in an eight bed dorm and there were only 3 of us there when i went to bed that night (at 9-ish!). however, from 10-1am we got 5 new dorm mates, who made a hell of a noise, especially this old cow who kept bitching about everything! so that stuffed up my early night. i woke up the next morning to more noisy people, checked my phone and realised that i'd slept through my 5am alarm and that it was now 6am! i don't think i've ever gotten changed and packed up as quickly as i did that morning! i was running down the corridor to the elevator within about 5 minutes of waking up. within another 10, i had checked out and was running up bolsover st in london to the great portland st station with my suitcase behind me. of course, when i got to the station, my oyster card was out of money and since i only had a 20 pound note, i had to put it on the damn card! carrying my suitcase down the stairs, i made it to the station and caught the train within about 20 minutes of waking up! i got to st pancras station in time, thankfully, to go through customs and so on...

talk about hectic!

i got on the train with no further problems, and left london for paris. i don't really remember too much about the train trip there, except my desperate desire to go to the food car and get a cuppa and some breakfast. and, embarrassingly, i was also quite upset that i would be arriving in paris with no makeup on!

i realised i was in france when my phone switched roaming areas and vodafone kindly welcomed me to france. it was cool. the landscape was very much like what i had seen of england - green fields and countryside - though it was obvious when we were getting closer to paris. the train pulled up into gare du nord station finally, and i was on my way. i bought a visite pass and a museum pass and headed off to the metro.

it's funny, gare du nord is the entryway to paris from the uk, and yet, they still have stairs and no lifts. so i had to lug my heavy bag up and down a whole heap of stairs. i finally got to the platform for my train and headed to place d'italie where i was staying. after getting to my hotel room around noon (and so glad that i'd decided to book a hotel room rather than a hostel), and cleaning up, i walked down to the jardin de plantes.

it was such a beautiful spring day. i went into a boulangerie and bought a croque monseur, and walked among the beautiful gardens. it was a brilliant way to start my parisian adventure.





that night, i visited the louvre. i had been before and had done all the italian/renaissance artworks, so i decided to start with the flemish side first. i found new artists and new paintings that were inspiring... including steenwyck



and i rediscovered ingres, whose work i've always loved



i also marvelled at the fact that people could paint things at a giant scale



read on for more paris

louvre from louvre windows - such a remarkable building!



the louvre closed at 10pm that night, so i headed back to my hotel. before i left, i had meticulously planned out my activities every day i was in paris. i figured that it would be good because then i could make sure i saw everything i wanted to see, and that i also didn't get lost (not knowing french was so much more of a disadvantage in france than i was expecting. in my memory of france from the last time i was there, i thought more people could speak english. i was wrong!)

so friday was to be spent in the heart of paris itself. i started off at the musee d'orsay - i think my most favourite of all the galleries in paris. unfortunately though, there was a manet exhibition on which wasn't covered by the museum pass and i wasn't up for standing in line for hours. which sucked because manet's "les déjeuner sur l'herbe" is one of my all-time favourite paintings. oh well, next time....



buti did visit a few other favourites, and rekindled my love for the impressionists...



i then headed across the pont de solferino, which was curiously covered in padlocks. it is apparently a thing for loved up couples to do...



i walked up through the tuileries to the musee de l'orangerie, which i'd never been to before. it had the most amazing paintings by monet displayed on the walls - an oval room with 4 huuuuuge paintings of waterlilies painted morning, noon, afternoon and evening. there was also an impressive display of more modern art including picasso, rousseau and modigliani. i then walked past the place de la concorde, through the tuileries to the palais royal (as a side note, everytime i say, read or write the name "tuileries" i think of how the lady on the train says it... the one that says "the next stop is...").



relaxing in the tuileries, paris-style



louvre from the tuileries



the palais royal is an odd place, with all these black and white things "growing" out of the courtyard, and big silver balls everywhere...







as you can see, i took soooo many photos in paris. after the palais royal, i walked to the opera... where phantom of the opera was based. its so beautiful and imposing with its massive gold statues



i then walked down the rue de la paix to have lunch near the place vendome. this is where the ritz is situated, so there are many posh shops along the rue de la paix, including cartier...



after lunch i went to the madeleine. i passed laduree on the way there, but there were so many people inside i thought i'd choose a different one to visit! i'd never seen the madeleine before either and it was really pretty. i went inside and it was equally pretty, with amazing sculptures and dramatic lights





i then walked down the rue st honore, one of the oldest streets in paris. i was told off by a military guard there for attempting to take a photograph, though i still have no idea why... i then walked to the grand palais and the start of the champs elysees (and this view... oh i so almost cried!!)



i think that will have to do it for now. i have so many photos of paris that it's so hard to decide which ones to share, and so i'm putting up more than i probably should. if you've read this far, thanks very much, and i hope i haven't bored you. i'll have to continue on with eeeek! day 1 next time. i packed so much into my 6 days there that i guess its bound to be the case that i have so many stories and photos!! sorry!!