5th November Paris

This morning we met our local guide Gabrielle who took us to take a few pictures of the Eiffel Tower from the Champs de Mars before we went up. The Eiffel Tower whose nickname 'La dame de fer', the Iron Lady, was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. It is now a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. It was erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair and it is hard to believe that they were then going to take it down. It was only after they found a use for it...as an antenna, that it got its repreive and they decided to keep it. The tower stands 320 metres tall and has three levels for visitors. We took the lift up to the second level and were then given the option of going up to the top level...there was no chance I was going to miss this! Our lift operator was a young woman who serenaded us to the top with French songs...it was awesome, best lift ride ever!!! The views from up there were amazing, you could see all parts of Paris. We just had enough time to walk around and take in the view, take a few pictures and then make our descent down. We took the lift down to the second level and then walked down the stairs...about 600 steps...much better down than up!!! 

Next stop the Louvre. We dropped off the people from the group who weren't going and then the rest of us went inside through the underground carpark. First we were sent off to get some lunch, they have quite a good food court at the Louvre, and we were then told to meet back at the inverted pyramid at 12:15pm.

The Musee du Louvre is one of the world's largest and most visited museums and it is also a historic monument. It holds and exhibits around 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began as a fortress in the 12th century. In the basement of the Louvre we were able to see the remnants of that original fortress. The building has been extended over time to create what is now the Louvre Palace. In 1682 King Louis XIV left the Louvre and moved his household to Versailles, using the Louvre to then display the royal collection. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces. The museum was then opened on the 10th August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings. The iconic glass pyramid was built in 1989 and is the main enterance to the Louvre. Today the Louvre is divided into eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings. Our group was divided into two and then off we went for a "highlights" tour of the Louvre. We first saw the Psyche and Cupid sculpture by A. Canova and then saw the 'Captive' by Michelangelo, we had seen the others from this collection in Florence. After that we saw the Delacroix painting called Liberty Leading the People...the boy holding a gun up is thought to be an inspiration of the Gavroche character in Victor Hugo's 1862 novel Les Miserables. Then it was on to see probably the most visited...and copied image in the world...the Mona Lisa. She has her very own wall!!! We then went and saw Aphrodite, known as the 'Venus de Milo' sculpture and 'The Winged Victory of Samothrace'. It was then time to head back to the hotel and ge ready for our big night out to the Moulin Rouge! The Moulin Rouge is a cabaret show in Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy (red light district). You know its the Moulin Rouge by the red windmill on the roof. It is best known as the birthplace of the can-can dance which was originally introduced as a seductive dance by the courtesans who operated from the site. Today it offers musical dance entertainment for visitors from all around the world...and they absolutely cram in those visitors!!! You pretty much sit on top of the person next to you! The meal was OK and so was the entertainment. Was it the best show I've ever seen...no...but hey...its the Moulin Rouge in Paris. Can I tell you about the entertainment...I wouldn't want to spoil the show for you in case you go one day...but I can say the dancing was good and the costumes were spectacular. Would I go again? Probably not but if you haven't been I would suggest you go and see it...just so you can say you have been to the "Moulin Rouge". After the show we headed back to the hotel where some people said their goodbyes as they planned to sleep in tomorrow...I can't believe the tour has come to an end!!!