Bruce woke feeling a lot better. Those French drugs did the trick. He still took it easy so I headed off to the Louvre.
I read in Lonely Planet that if you glanced at every piece on display, it would take nine months. Still, a great venue to do it in. I wonder if they would let you stay in the Royal Apartments? The heat would probably do you in - it was so hot in the Louvre.
The queue was long enough but I had the benefit of my Visite Card which saw me swish past them to the Denon Gallery for - you guessed it - Mona Lisa. It was impossible to get close and a later viewing of my zoom shot shows the reflection of bored tourists looking at this portrait. While it is a masterpiece, it is unclear why it is so popular. Good marketing I guess.
The Wedding at Cana on the opposite wall is another great masterpiece by Veronese. At 990cm long it is apparently the largest painting in the Louvre's collection. During WWII it was rolled up in the back of a truck and carted around France to avoid the Germans.
I headed off to the Egyptian exhibits and then Venus de Milo, on the way admiring the architecture and embellishments of this significant building.
I went to the French masterpieces gallery to see David's painting of Napoleon crowning Josephine. A great piece. The other paintings of David in this gallery were of battle scenes and all of the men were naked. Hmmm.
I stopped at the cafeteria for a reviver. Rather than queue for coffee you can give the attendant €2 and she will bring it to you. Very handy.
My brief two and a half hour visit finished at the apartments of Napoleon III or as a young American couple called it, Napoleon's three apartments.
The Second Empire decor here is attractive and OTT all at the same time. Chandeliers galore, a salon with enough sofas to seat all visitors to the Louvre and a massive dining table. There are separate displays of furniture and objets of the period, including the duchesse de Berri's dressing table that every girl needs.
While here I corresponded via SMS with Antony and Peter who were having lunch nearby. I left the Louvre via Carousel and shot past the two Starbucks to find an incredibly funky place called Pylones. Who did I bump into - Annette, Ana and Bridget on their shopping trip.
A final SMS from Antony and a "quick" scoot up the steps and we met at the Pyramid.
We had a drink next to the Comedie Francaise. It sounds like they have had as great a time as us; they have travelled from Amsterdam through Bruges, Ghent, Lille and Amiens. They liked Amsterdam as much as we did.
We strolled through the Tuileries and I pared off to catch the metro back to Bonne Nouvelle.
I was back first so made salad and prepared what I could for a snack prior to the opera. The others streamed in, Tom and the boys sporting fashionable Parisian haircuts. Peter Hall joined us and later we five adults headed off to Opera Bastille for a performance of Lucia Di Lammermoor. The production was set in an indeterminate place and era - probably 1900. This grated somewhat as the setting is in Scotland when Mary Stuart became queen. It took absolutely nothing away from the excellent performances of Sonya Yoncheva as Lucia, Michael Fabiano as Edgardo and George Petean as Enrico. The soprano was superb and gave a fine coloratura performance. She is no Sutherland (will there ever be) and sang the high notes excellently. The best experience for me was that the audience recognized the talent and went wild with applause and bravos. Australian audiences are too restrained and only clap politely. The performance was rounded off with great playing by the orchestra under Maestro Benini. I was so pleased that for a first time opera for Tim, Ana and Peter we had such a great performance of a relatively straightforward plot that is arguably one of opera's top ten. Interestingly, the surtitles were in French and English, which helped a lot.
Afterwards we had dessert and a drink at a restaurant on the Place de Bastille and it cost a fortune!
What another great day in Paris.