Lovely ladies and lions

Today's saunter took us through Paris to the Louvre and back, taking in the Seine, some sights (and smells) on the way. - And of course, a stop for coffee and pain au chocolat...

This picture was taken from under an umbrella. Can you tell?


We were walking along the river after wearing out our feet at the Louvre.

I had never noticed before - or not remembered from last time - that the Nike of Samothrace is on a ship's prow. We reckon it must have been a trireme.


As for famous ladies in the Louvre, here's another one, surveying the scene.

(Which button do I push to make her eyes move back and forth?)

And here's a picture of the scene itself - including the talking ladies and the yawning man. James took these photos - I think they're great!


We had a good look at many of the quieter, in fact virtually deserted, galleries of the Macedonian and early arts before hitting the main sights and heading out the door. I'm happy to report that only two rooms of the vast, enormous, weary palace were as crowded as this. Spot the art historian in red....


As for the quieter end of the Louvre, the Macedonian galleries included some fantastic lions and reliefs from Assyrian palaces. This is one of my favourite areas of ancient art, and I always visit the reliefs in the British Museum when I am in London. It's exciting to see some more of the artefacts from Ur and the ancient near east.
This was probably my favourite discovery of the day, because it was so unexpected. It's a lion (not a frog), from a temple, missing its haunches but with the face and ears intact. It's about waist high in this photo, so it's quite large. I found it odd and unreal, and fascinating.


And back out on the street, back in the 5th.


How about some specs? Hello Possums!


Tonight's entertainment included dinner at a local cafe with Greg and Eileen. We had much chat to catch up on. There was also the amusement of my sudden incapacity to speak French resulting in Italian mash coming out, and the waiter, who offered to take a photo for us, took two of himself and tried to take one of a colleague, before waving the camera our way....

Greg and Eileen have the pictures so we'll post those later...

In the meantime, I'll leave you with the delightful sight a weary tourist sees on his way home to rest.....

And home, to our view with mansard roofs.


Bev