After the big catchup on sleep it took a while to get going Friday morning. When we finally did, we got on the tourist bus again, this time for a proper look at the Arc. You'll see what i mean from the photos, but suffice to say a lot of French history is recorded there.
After that we strolled down towards the Eiffel, but along a non-main road. It always pleases me just how quickly anything tacky fades when you get more than 50m from a tourist route in any major European city. Came across a frozen yoghurt stand outside a cafe packed with Parisians, near the Seine. When we got to the tower the queue for lifts was predictably long. I decided i would enjoy the walk halfway up, and see about as much from there as from the very top. Kieran and Menna wanted the real McCoy, were happy to queue for it, and were happy with it. I was happy with my 670 steps (did i count them? Hell no...they're marked off at intervals) and it also meant i got down about 3 hours before they.
In that time i walked up towards Ecole Militaire along Champ de Mars, grabbed another supermarket lunch, ate it outside Hotel des Invalides, then went to Musee Rodin.
August Rodin was one of the most influential 19th century sculptors (don't quote me as i don't have wikipedia on my phone!), and all his most famous works are at the Museum. Including The Burghers of Calais, The Kiss, Orpheus, and my favourite, Le Penseur (The Thinker). The best thing was that most works also had their predecessor studies in marble or clay exhibited, so you could see the evolution of each work, sometimes over several years. Exhibiting this way helps document the practice of, and i think humanise the work of, the greats. They were selling casts of his major works in the shop, but the price tags (€150-650) put me off!
The other museums were mostly shut by that time, so i met up with Menna and Kieran at the Louvre for a quick run-through of the majors. Free entry for 'youth' (under 26) on Wednesdays and Fridays after 6pm! There was plenty more classically-themed sculpture (the French love that stuff), plenty of artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia (now mostly Iraq) and Egypt. It was the largest display of archaeological stuff I've ever seen, and i felt pretty dodgey looking at it in a French museum. It's all very nice that Western publics have access, but that stuff should really be progressively returned to where it was, and lets not dress it up in khakis and a silly hat, mostly stolen from.
Then it was to Aphrodite (Venus de Milo), some French large format paintings, including Napoleon crowning his empress (can't remember artist or full title), and of course La Joconde (Mona Lisa). I think its hilarious the the Louvre's two most famous works are both generally known by other names. Not sure who the joke is on though...
After a few hours of browsing and gazing we were stuffed so headed back for a nice pizzeria dinner (very French! But cheap...) before bed.
Next day, saturday, i headed to the Georges Pompidou centre, which among other things houses the Museum of Modern Art. Commentary of that really has to go with the pictures, but there was plenty of good stuff to see, including several good Pollocks, and a few more artists for me to follow up on, mostly minor surrealists that i liked.
As the weather had cleared a little by the time i was done, i took a gamble and headed out to Versailles. Couldn't get in to the Palace because it was closing early that day, but i was more interested in the architecture and gardens anyway, which are free to wander round. It really all is bloody impressive in every respect, and its great the Republic held onto it after the former occupants vacated. It was reasonably quiet at the end of the day and very, very peaceful strolling.
In the evening i met back up with M & K at the height of Parisian cuisine, the Hard Rock Cafe, and then had a horrendously expensive beer back near our place. And that, my friends, was most of Paris!
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