More On Paris

The Louvre Carrousel and the Passage Richelieu are two lesser known entrances to the Louvre. To avoid long delays these are better alternatives than lining up at the glass pyramid entrance. If you arrive just before opening time you will be inside the Louvre extremely quickly. The Louvre Carrousel entrance is directly off the Louvre Royal Palais metro stop. If it's a day like the one we had (wet) this entrance was a saviour as we stayed nice and dry.

If you want to get a peaceful look at the MONA LISA then head straight to it. It's in the Denon wing, floor 1 room 6. Both times I have been there we have been able to get great photos and soak it up before the crowds arrived. 

We spent a few hours at the Louvre looking at the artwork but the kids started to get a bit bored, especially Sebastian, although he sparked up when we saw some suits of armour. The Lourve is huge and it would take many visits the even come close to seeing most of the exhibits.

We made our way up to Montmarte, my favourite place in Paris. I like the small cobbled streets with the coffee and crepe shops. The square with the artists has a good vibe to it. There are also a few delicious looking pastry shops. The views from up there are quite good to. 

We walked around to Sacre Coeur which dominates the landscape and has a nice view down into Paris. Unfortunately when you get down to the bottom of the hill it is just souvenir shop after souvenir shop, although we did the Griswalds family Paris thing and bought Berets! I did like seeing the older lady with her scooter, especially when I cop a little flack for riding one around at home.

We walked along to Moulin Rouge which was a huge disappointment. The whole area is just sex shop after sex shop. Not the best walk with young kids. I did expect it but not to the extent.

The next day we headed off to Notre Dame. We prepared the kids by letting them watch The Hunchback Of Notre Dame the night before. Sebastian was enthralled and it was amazing how much he had taken in from the movie. As we were walking along passed the Palace of Justice he started saying how that fitted into the story. It was actually packed that day as they were trying the survivor from the terrorist cell that was allegedly involved in the Paris bombing. I was surprised by Kylies interest in the building. In fact it was her favourite thing in Paris. We didn't get to go inside as the line was extremely long, I was a bit shocked. 

We wandered the Latin quarter and had some delicious cakes. Lunch was at a restaurant overlooking the Seine River. Then we headed for the Galleries Layette which has a tremendous rooftop terrace on Level 7. On the first trip to Paris it was an undiscovered hidden gem, which you only ever found out about with some local knowledge. Nowadays it is a bit better known.

Our last excursion for the day was back to the lawns around the Eiffel Tower so the kids could run around a bit. They had fun and accidentally photobombed Gregor Dimitriovs photo shoot. He laughed and said it was fine.

Now we are on the train to Holten, The Netherlands. I'm looking forward to seeing Roy and Anita and the kids are looking forward to having some kids to play with.