last days in paris

friday was our do-our-own-thing day.

i headed firstly out to the musée marmottan which had a collection of monet paintings. the main monet room was divided into 3 sections. i counted, & just these rooms housed 51 of his paintings, an end circular room displaying 16 of his garden, mainly the waterlilies series. it felt a bit like you were sitting in the garden itself. i spent quite a while just sitting in the central seats drinking it all in, only moving to go to the other side & look at the others! there were lots more of course, but that was my favourite room & i went & bought some postcards so i could go & write on them in front of the originals. not sure the security man understood, but i really didn't care!

i decided to walk back to the eiffel tower and followed a main shopping strip a kilometre or two down a hill. it was nice to be out of the tourist areas. was very taken with a bracelet so bought it - subsequently justifying it as a birthday present to myself! bought a salad for lunch & had it in a park across the river from the eiffel tower, on a bench with a view.

wandered across the bridge & decided to go up the tower (only debated because i've done it before) so did that. got very cranky with other people in lines since they only seem to stop moving when they bump into you! considering i lined up twice for around half an hour each time, & we shuffled all the way, you'd think they would be able to judge distance after a while. i decided it must be a european thing, but it bugged me. the only thing that made me smile about the experience was thinking they must all be nearsighted wombats!

i then caught the train to another suburb just the other side of where we're staying to find an old roman amphitheatre. was feeling quite excited about the whole thing as i emerged from the station, & thought it would just appear before me i think! was disappointed that i had to walk up & down the street a few times because the map wasn't quite accurate (blame the tools). eventually found it & it's a strange mix of old & new. built 2nd century, fell to ruins in the 3rd & they reused blocks to built the main city island first settled. was only uncovered again in the 17th or 18th century & restored. there were kids playing soccer the day i was there, in the same place they held gladiator events! people live in buildings that share old walls, & one side has been made into a park with a kid's playground.

walked home & arrived around 8 so by the time i'd rested enough to get up again it was another late dinner. well late foe us - so far the latest we've been to bed is about 11pm i think! it's light until after 9.30 which is a little deceiving.

yesterday & today we have done the local thing. had considered going out to giverny to see monet's house but couldn't be bothered getting up & having a big day - & after seeing all those paintings i felt like i'd been moneted out. so we just wandered our local streets, but in a different direction, stopping in shops that looked interesting & turning down little streets. the day seems to go quickly! last night we made a special effort to go out to a bar - have been determined to have enough energy to do this since we arrived! ended up a few blocks away, had a french beer, & my main memory of the place is a bunch of uni students - mainly guys - standing around with their petite glasses drinking wine! just in contrast to australian culture!

today we found a few markets as not many shops are open on sundays. also ended up at the luxembourg gardens for a free concert (but partly to give our feet a rest again - it's becoming a theme).

it's our last night in paris tonight! danielle comes back for a few days in 3 weeks, but i might only be here the night before i fly home. we're off to majorca tomorrow, so while it's kind of sad to leave, we're looking forward to new places.

until then,

bonsoir,

belle xxx