I was in Paris, after our wedding and before the news of my Dad’s passing. I remember not having too much enthusiasm on the sight-seeing although I urged myself to at least, pay The Louvre, a visit. There I was, walking along Champs Elysees after passing Arc De Triomphe and I found myself in the season of Rugby World Cup.
Everywhere was selling the participating nations’ jerseys and I didn’t realise rugby could be so big here. I later found out that the final was actually played on the day I touched down and France was the host country.
As I walked, I occasionally dropped by the various car showrooms available there. What a refreshing change for me! I must say, the showrooms are retail of the next level. The way the cars are showcased, is so sexy and it’s like seeing a mannequin clad in the most impressive haute couture! I saw a Mercedes McLaren sport model (seriously, I don’t know what the model is), which was displayed on a podium, with an angle that can make the best impression out of the car. It was white metallic and the lights that shined on it seem to make it sparkled like a gigantic diamond. What a lovely sight of a car!
There were also Citroen and Renault showrooms with cute cars on display.
After almost 40 minutes on foot, I reached The Louvre and quickly settled for the admission ticket. I got myself the museum map but I find it rather confusing. The museum has 4 entrances, North, South, East and West. I picked the one that leads me directly to Mona Lisa. I didn’t roam around for long, maybe about two hour max only as I was not really drawn to any of the artworks there.
As predicted, Mona Lisa is the only show piece that attracted the biggest crowd. It was not a big piece work of art, in size but the starry eyes and mysterious smile of her are somehow unmistakeable and indescribable. I watched it from three different perspectives, right, left and centre and they all looked the same no matter which angle I picked. I wonder should all good artworks share this kind of characteristic.
After Mona Lisa, I hurried to view the Code of Hammurabi. I remember it from our History text book and from the photo, I would have thought it would be very big in size. The actual is just like the height of an average wardrobe and the thickness of a matured rubber tree trunk. I normally have quite an inquisitive mind to read the descriptions of any showpiece, but since mostly are written in French, I couldn’t be bothered further but made my way to hunt for Angelina.
From my city map in hand, Angelina is located just along the road where The Lourve is sitted next to it. I thought I should go there as from the review I read online, this place serves very good desserts. When I reached the doorstep of Angelina, I resisted from going in as the crowd was chokingly full. Nonetheless, the sight of this lovely French tea-house/restaurant remains a memorable one and what’s more, next to it is an English bookstore in Paris! I walked in and browsed through its collection. There were all mainly classic literatures and designs books and a corner with Audrey Hepburn photo books in French. I love the cosiness and sense of being in an old bookshop like the movie Notting Hill.
After that, I headed straight to Arc De Triomphe. I climbed the stairs, almost in breathless state, to reach the top of the Arch. I was quite pleased with the view from the top and seeing the 12 avenues flow into and out of the roundabout where the Arc stands tall. And looking at Eiffel Tower from there, I felt nothing, not at all impressed, for the first time.
I must also mention that I passed by Olympia Theatre with a long queue of Sir Paul McCartney’s fans, waiting anxiously for his concert. It was 22nd October 2007.
