walk like an egyptian

Despite the date on the post, this post was actually written 27 July 2015 because I got behind on posting from the Paris trip last summer, and then I kept not doing it even though it was the last post, and then the guilt hung over me for not doing it so I avoided the blog entirely, and now I am finally doing it because I want to be able to post things again. This means that a lot of the details of the day are fuzzy, but I think I remember enough to give an idea of what we did :)

We started the morning at Angelina for their famous hot chocolate and mont blanc. We got there early enough that it turns out we wouldn't have needed a reservation, though I'm reasonably sure that we did call ahead. According to the timestamp on the photos, "early enough" was about 7am. We were there for about an hour, and a few people had come in by that time, but nowhere near even half full.

The hot chocolate was very rich, is served with a full pot of whipped cream (which means, even more rich), the pastries in their breakfast menu were tasty. We had a mont blanc in addition to share, because we had to try the Angelina mont blanc. I remember being disappointed that the eat-in version came in a paper cup (same as for the takeout version), but it was good...

Old-fashioned dining room

Breakfast: hot chocolate, juice, 

pastries and bread with jam and honey

and a mont blanc ordered separately.

It was tasty.

We then walked to the Louvre.

The lines were long, and it was raining on and off. Even the line with the Museum Pass was really long - you get to (sort of) cut in front of the regular line, but there were other people who had gotten the Museum Pass as well! I will spare you most of my "glass pyramid" photos; other people have taken better ones, and it's not like anybody who will be reading this hasn't at least seen photos before :)

I made a decision to not take exhaustive pictures at the Louvre, in order to spend more time looking at stuff and less time taking pictures, so the photos I took were mostly highlights and/or things I thought were particularly interesting. Plus, there are lots of photos already taken of the more famous bits, and the internet is probably full of photos better than any I could take anyway :)

The Louvre is so big, as I'm sure everyone already knows, it's pretty much impossible to see it all in a day. We decided to concentrate on the Egyptian exhibits and the surrounding areas. We also decided to take an overall tour even though it cost extra - I can't recall what the name of the tour was, but essentially, "best of the Louvre." We ended up taking an English-language tour; there were several of those per day, while the French language version was only once or twice a day. This took us past all the great/famous works as well as some history of the Louvre, with a tour guide who knew all the shortcuts, and was totally worth it. Since we intend to go back to Paris in the future, we'll eventually see more of the museum and not just the small section we visited this time.

My bad back was also giving me some problems from all the standing and the short-step-shuffle walk one does at museums (vs actual long-strided walking which didn't typically cause me problems), and since we'd chosen to visit on the day of the week they're open late, we decided to go home for lunch, rest for a while, and then go back again in the evening. The pictures are thus slightly out of order (all the museum pictures first, then the food pictures, even though the food happened in between), but it makes sense to do it this way.

One thing about the Louvre that I had not remembered at all from my trip in high school (and the one-day-see-it-all run through that we did!) is that the building is almost as interesting as the actual art in the museum. Because it was a royal residence for so long, and because it's been expanded and added to over time, each wing, and almost each room, has different and beautiful walls, floors, ceilings, fireplaces...

The room currently housing the Mona Lisa, and the obligatory photo that I took of the Mona Lisa :)

The ancient Egyptians liked cats and other animals

Playful kitten :)

These kitties have been patiently sitting for 2000-3000 years.

These fish are about 3000-5000 years old

They spun, wove, and did beadwork

Drop spindles and needles

Using a distaff

Cloth.

3000 year old beadwork; if I undesrtood correctly, this net was placed over a mummy.

And played games

Their bread is really stale now.

Since some of the organization is more-or-less geographical, we also saw a bit of Mesopotamian, Achaemenid, and other work; we didn't linger, though a few things did catch our eyes.

3000 year old Mesopotamian bits

This immense stone object capped columns (see panel below) - the person going through the doorway gives some idea of size.

I loved the winged animals (these were Achaemedian, ~510AD).

This was one of a pair, handles of an urn that had something to do with Silenus

Lunch was at a little chinese-style ramen shop (or "lamen" as it was labelled) just a couple blocks away from where we were staying. So good. So tasty. They did takeout. They make the noodles when you order your bowl. Best ramen ever. We went back and got takeout for dinner.

Pinched off a portion of dough, rolled it out...

Stretched and folded several times, with some whirling around in between,

Until the noodles were noodly. He then cut off the ends to disconnect the noodles and put them in the pot to cook

I never finish all the soup in ramen. Except this soup was so tasty, I had to.

Thus concluded our last day in Paris. The next day, we went to visit G's brother, who lives outside Paris. We were late... we got to the train, got on the train, and the train didn't leave. We got periodic announcements over the next half hour or so, saying the train was delayed... and then the announcer told us (with a faint tone of disbelief), that the train conductor/driver had slept in and forgotten to come to work and was on his way. We spent a pleasant couple of days with G's brother, then took the train back to Paris, and then back down to Toulouse.