The Louvre

In the morning I made a trip to the Laundromat to complete some much-needed laundry for both Sam and I. This should see us clean now until we get home on Monday.

I spoke to a man from Romania who was also washing clothes in the laundromat. He came to Paris to source clothes and transport them back to Romania. He said that there is not the selection of men's clothes and shoes in Romania that there is in Paris and that Romanian men wanted access to affordable variety, which he provides. He said that Romania is a great country to visit, particularly Sibiu in Transylvania - very beautiful he assured me. He also said that France was suffering from too much democracy, too much freedom. Too much freedom leads to lack of boundaries and then no freedom at all because of deterioration of cultural values and terrorism. He also bemoaned the fact that French people saw all Romanians as gypsies, even though that is not the case, and he also said that anti-semitism is growing worse every year because the Jews are so successful and controlling the money and wealth of inner-city France, particularly Le Marais district.

The laundry trip took two hours in the morning. In the same street as the laundromat was the oldest stone domestic house in the whole of Paris. It was the house of the famed alchemist Nicolas Flamel, who was legendary for his alleged discovery of the Philosopher's stone, and changing base metals into silver and then to gold. His old medieval house is now a restaurant with a Michelin star. The house dates from the 14th century.

Sam and I bought tickets for the Louvre today and visited the amazing museum. It surely must be counted as one of the very best in the world. We spent about four hours in the Louvre but only got to see about half of the displays. The collection is amazing, and always interesting.

The fascination about the Louvre is two-fold. Firstly, the historical exhibits represent the most amazing collection of cultural treasures from all areas of the world and from every era of history. These include ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Europe, and more. Secondly, the museum is located in the main royal palace in the centre of old Paris, so the building itself and its rooms take the visitor back to the golden age of the French Monarchy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many of the rooms have been maintained with the furnishings of the monarchy to give an insight into the decadent regal lifestyle.

The visit to the Louvre was quire tiring. After a short rest, I visited Mont Martre and the Sacre Coeur (Sacred Heart) Cathedral on top of a hill overlooking the skyline of Paris from another angle. This is always a special place to visit and a highlight of any trip to Paris.Read more