Heads...

Today we finally got out of the flat at about 2 o'clock, and went to the Middle Ages Museum. It was interesting. Apart from the dame and the unicorn tapestries, which are huge and awe-inspiring, there are Roman baths, and an interesting collection of small bits and pieces they found in the Seine when they dug part of it up in the nineteenth century. I wonder what else is down there....

I also saw more headless religious statues than I have ever seen, as well as separated heads. There are many statues which were removed from Notre Dame and other places, in order to protect them. There is a wealth of every day objects and art from various places around the world, during the middle ages period. The garden was very calming, although it looked like it needed a good water to me. And I am a registered plant killer.

Afterwards, we noticed that we were quite close to the Pantheon, which had never been on my list of things to do. I'm so glad we went. I was curious about it, because in a film I saw last week, somewhere, maybe the Arc de Triomphe, it said that the Pantheon really impressed Hitler when he came to Paris after he invaded. I can see why. It is HUGE, and it honours great leaders, of which he no doubt assumed he was one. It was originally the church of St Genevieve, patron saint of Paris, and has periodically resumed its religious role throughout history, but for more than a century now, it has been a 'civic temple'. Presidents are sworn in there, and many famous people have had the bodies or ashes interred there. It has a vast interior, with spectacular wall paintings and domes. I really recommend a visit.

After the shock of its grandeur, the visitor winds down a staircase at the back to the crypt. It covers almost the same amount of ground as the building itself, and is almost a sacred place. The guards ask you to be quiet as you explore the four wings, each housing many tombs, or empty spaces for tombs. There was Voltaire, Rousseau, Emile Zola, Alexander Dumas, Victor Hugo and many others. There's a great display about Emile Zola, and how he stood up to France in the Dreyfuss Affair, which involved false charges against a jewish military officer, when the country's anti-semitism was building, at the end of the nineteenth century. I was pleased to see that there is a tribute to the people who helped protect jewish people during the war. Pierre and Marie Curie are there too. David reminded me that they died of radiation poisoning. I took a step back...

Alex and I had an interesting conversation and what would be left of our time in world history, in a hundred or a thousand years. We tried to imagine what people would look at in museums, which might reflect our point in history.

Next, even though our feet were starting to ache, we had a quick look at the Jardin de Luxembourg, since it was only a block away. We only saw a little part of it, and we'll have to go back one day when we have plenty of time.

I think when we get back to Hong Kong, apart from the herb garden I've been planning for ages, I might plant a 30cm x 30cm square of grass. I love Paris gardens!

We came home and had dinner, after which we filled bought crepes with nutella and cream. Mmmm....

Chez Leonardo

Today was probably my favourite, so far. I just loved Clos Luce! We tried to get going early, and ended up checking out at about 10:45. We crammed all our our non-essentials into three of our backpacks and left them with the hotel, to pick up later in the afternoon. Finding Clos Luce was not exactly 'evident' but we made it.

It is such a beautiful place. They call it a chateau, but it's really a large house, in my opinion. Part of it was built much earlier by Etienne le Loup (Stephen the Wolf - I know one of those...) and it was so exciting to be where Leonardo spent his last three years. There are quotes of his all over the house. I stood in the bedroom in which he died. The furniture is not his, exactly, but it's all from the same period. It was lovely to wander through the house. On the lowest level are models of his inventions. There was also a set of stairs labelled "secret passage" or something like that, and it clearly led down to a fork. It was so inviting. I heard a frenchman tell his wife that it probably led to the chateau. I repeated to them what the guide had told me the day before, and we both rolled our eyes. Bof! We knew better.... Several minutes after this, Hugo and I stood together at the top of these stairs, just the rope between us and an underground adventure. I'm ashamed to admit that this was not the first time I said this on our trip. "Hugo, if you go down there and have a look, you won't get into nearly as much trouble as I will. If you get caught, I'll pretend to be mad, but I won't really be, and we'll get to find out what's really down there." He agreed immediately, but then I thought better of it, and we decided not to take the risk, given the surveillance videos everywhere.... I admit we did it at Chateau de Vincennes and it worked very nicely. No, that is NOT child abuse, it's one of the benefits of having children. No, I am NOT teaching him to make wrong choices, I'm teaching him to think for himself. Next subject....

I spent too much time in the gift shop, but I bought Mum a lovely birthday present:) I'm still looking for one for Aunty Kath. Afterwards, we enjoyed chocolate crepes in the beautiful rose garden behind Leonardo's house. Gorgeous. We decided that today we'd have afternoon tea at lunch time and lunch later in the afternoon. Afterwards we walked through Leonardo's Park. It is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Little brooks bubble through, and there are interesting bridges designed by Leonardo between the willows and the flowers, and the soft green grass. Dotted all over the park are working models of his inventions. There are also little plaques sticking up from the ground where a particular plant grows, with a sketch by Leonardo, and a reference to the paintings which include this plant. There are also places where you can press a button to choose your language, and you will hear him speak, as well as his students, about different principles of light or perspective which are relevant to the landscape in front of you. In another place a huge portrait Ginevra de Benci swings in the breeze, which is something they used to do in his time, apparently. At the very back of the park is a picnic area, and a fun play park which the kids enjoyed. They really loved this place. I would love to go back, already, and just walk around his garden, as he did.

Finally, we had to leave and make our way to the train station. First, Rachel and I bought some shoes at a fantastic sale in Amboise. Later we laughed, because one of Rachel's pairs was made in China. David bought a couple of baguettes, and we went to Aldi, and bought ham, cheese, fruit, drinks and more Choco Biscuits, and had a picnic of sorts at the station. We took the regular train to Saint Pierre des Corps, and then caught the TGV back to Montparnasse. It was all very easy. The train departures are posted like at an airport, so you can see what platform to go to, and people were helpful. The TGV was fun, but it is difficult to really appreciate the speed at which you are travelling. David's GPS said we were doing 300 km/h but it didn't feel like it. You really need the roadrunner to run along side the train, or at least a motorcycle, with the rider's hair blowing up under his helmet, to get a sense of it.

Amboise was so charming, I'm really sorry it was over so fast! It makes me realize how diverse France is, and how there are so many other places to visit!

In the court of Francois I

We just got back from a wonderful holiday away from our holiday.

It was a bit of a struggle to get up in time to catch the train yesterday morning, but we made it. I had bought our SNCF tickets online, and was a little nervous about collecting our tickets from the machine, after reading other people's experiences, but it was very smooth and easy. Apparently you can only do it if your credit card has a chip, and our Australian one does, so that was easy. The ticket machine also composted (validated) our tickets, so we didn't have to do that before we boarded. There are little orange composting machines everywhere, though. There was no assigned seating on the train, and it was a pleasant trip down. We enjoyed the 'milk run'.

When we arrived at Amboise, the first thing we saw was an Aldi shop. We loved Aldi in Australia, and were delighted to see our bargain supermarket again. A lot of products were different, but the Choco Biscuits were the same, so we stocked up.

It's about a fifteen minute walk into Centreville, and it's very pretty. All the buildings were very old, with lots of ivy and vines, and roses - beautiful. When we crossed the little river, the castle loomed huge in front of us. We walked up the touristy but pretty street alongside the chateau, and found our way to our hotel. We were very shocked when cars stopped for us to cross the road, even when we weren't at a crossing - the opposite of Paris! I talked to a couple of friendly old men about this, and they laughed and said that Paris was a crazy place, but that there were a lot of Parisiens in Amboise, now. It was a bit too early to check in at the hotel, so we went back to the cafe/tourist shop strip and went in to an Italian restaurant called Via Roma. The 11 euro 'formule' included the plat du jour, which was a pasta, and the dessert du jour, which turned out to be chocolate mousse. The pasta was okay - some kind of ravioli with eggplant and other vegetable strips, but the chocolate mousse was divine. It was about 250 mL and, though ungarnished, theck and rech and creamy. I could only eat half, and that is really saying something.

The Hotel de Blason was great, at 78 euro for a room for four, plus an extra 6 euro for an extra trundle bed, and 6 euro each for a simple but delicious breakfast of croissants, pains au chocolate, yoghurt, bread rolls, cheese, juice and tea, coffe or hot chocolate. The bathroom was very tiny, but it was very clean and the staff were very friendly and helpful. We also bought cheaper tickets there for our trip to Clos Luce when we left, the next day.

The chateau was lovely. We lay about on the softest greenest grass, and discussed the clouds for about an hour. Nobody seemed to mind. The place has a gentle, happy spirit about it, I thought. Maybe that's because I picture Leonardo's automated lion delighting the court of Francois I.... The souterrain (underground) tour was a washout - don't bother. It was all in French, which I expected, but it was all above the level of the road, and very well lit, and mostly a lecture, rather than an adventure. There were some dark tunnels I was dying to escape to, though.... I asked the guide about the alleged tunnels between the chateau and Clos Luce, and she said that there has never been any evidence of any such tunnels, and that they're all a myth. We don't believe her. On the way home, we stopped at a kebab shop, and for 5.5 euro each, we had a kebab-type thing, fries and a drink. It wasn't haute cuisine, but it was very filling.

Back at the hotel, I collapsed into bed just as Hugo was looking for the large bag of bubble gum I'd accidentally bought for our train trip. David decided to play a game with the tattoos, and my first few hours of dozing were intermittently interrupted with squeals as someone unwrapped a particularly ludicrous tattoo (I think "I love strass" was the winner) and then someone stuck it on themselves. Today my children all resemble

the Illustrated Man. They told me not to worry, that they wash off easily.

Does not work well in groups

Today, David and I took off to the Grand Palais to catch the Marie Antoinette exhibition before it closes on Monday. We waited an hour in the sun to get in, and then it was so crowded that it was difficult to get close to the exhibits. Those I saw were very beautiful. The building itself was a disappointment. It is very grand outside, but its soul has been ripped out and replaced with ugly, modern, cluttered boxes inside.

Afterwards, we joined a World War II walking group, but we didn't do so well there, either. I hadn't eaten since breakfast (admittedly at about 10am) and the walk started at 3. The commentary wasn't as engaging as our bike tour, and it seemed we walked for about fifteen minutes between stories. I was starving, and when we reached the Tuilleries (the park in front of the Louvre) I diverted for 60 seconds to get us a couple of sandwiches from a stand. When we turned around, the group was gone. We walked flat out for about a kilometre to try and find them, then gave up, bought bonbons and went home.

I sat about and finished the book I bought yesterday at Shoah - Paroles d'etoiles - Histoires des enfants caches. It's dozens of recollections by jewish people who were children during WWII, and their experiences of raids, wearing the yellow star, watching family members be taken away, being taken away themselves, being hidden, and coming to terms with life after the liberation. Amazing.

Tomorrow is going to be wonderful. We leave from Gare d'Austerlitz in the morning to travel to Amboise by ordinary train, and we're booked into the Blason Hotel. We'll visit Clos Luce (Leonardo da Vinci's home) as well as the Amboise chateau and we're going to try the group thing again tomorrow afternoon to explore the underground tunnels between the chateau and Clos Luce. We'd better not lose the group, or we might end up the source of some legende urbaine.... We're coming back on Saturday night on the TGV. Yay! There will probably be a gap in my blog, as I don't think we'll have internet access in Amboise. Yikes!

Shoah

This afternoon was an amazing experience. We went to the Shoah Memorial. The word 'holocaust' is an anglo-saxon term. The French use the Hebrew word 'shoah' which means disaster, to describe what happened to millions of Jewish people during World War II. The Shoah Memorial is in the Jewish area, very near us. The first thing you see when you arrive is the Wall of the Righteous - a list of hundreds of names of non-Jewish people who helped and protected French Jewish people during the war. Across the road, on a school, is a small plaque which says that of the thousands of French people taken away to concentration camps, over 11000 were children, and 500 of those children were from the neighbourhood in which we stood. In all, about 76000 French jews were killed during the war, out of about 300000 living in France. Inside the memorial is the Wall of Names, including every French Jew who was killed.

It's an extraordinary memorial. We walked through photos, films, artifacts, newspaper articles and stories about what happened. There was so much information, a lot of it in English, that I'm sure you could spend hours there reading everything and looking at everything. It's a very powerful exhibition. At the start, I felt really sad. About halfway through, I felt really angry. By the end, I felt numb.

One of the things which really hit me was the actual front wall of one of the barracks from a French camp, with pictures of it in situ, being used. It was really there, in the building. Another thing which was very painful was near the exit, where you have to walk past walls full of pictures of happy babies and children, before they were taken away. In 1942 on the 14th August, convoy 19 from Paris included the first removal of children under 12. The French government cooperated fully with Hitler to round up and remove the jews. It wasn't until 1995 that Jacques Chirac publicly acknowledged the French Government's responsibility in the murdering of so many jewish people.

I'd always felt terribly sorry for the Jewish people sent to concentration camps, and when I think about 'jews' and 'WWII' I imagine emaciated, sick, abused people. But today, I saw images of hundreds of healthy, happy, well-dressed, ordinary people. I never stopped to think that before they went to concentration camps, their lives were much like mine. There were lots of cute studio photos taken of bouncing babies and proud parents, kids playing with water, families at the beach, little boys in school uniforms. There were even pictures of happy families wearing the yellow stars. Frankly, it was less tragic for me before I thought of this.

I started to wonder if I could pop back in time, and had the opportunity, would I shoot Hitler? I brought this up later with my family, and asked them if they thought it was wrong. Mostly, they did. I would have no moral problem with it. I hope I would have the courage. Easy to say, sixty years after the fact. I felt a bit angry that out of the long line of naked women, clutching small children, all waiting to be shot, that they didn’t just run out of the line and ram the SS soldiers. I like to think I would prefer to die that way, rather than compliantly wait my turn. Once again, easy to say.

I bought a few books in the bookshop, which I will wade through, in French, as well as a gorgeous picture book about a bear called Otto, who survived the war.
Afterwards, we made our way up rue des Rosiers, which has lots of jewish bakeries, patisseries and delicatessens. It was absolutely gorgeous. Just around the corner, a couple of dozen men and boys in kippahs were talking and laughing as they entered some building. We went to a falafel shop and had the closest things to doner kebabs since we left Australia. They were delicious! We also bought an assortment of patisseries which we took home and cut up and shared, so we all tasted about six. Great fun. David and Rachel are off to run around the Eiffel Tower.

Going Bush

Today we made it to the Chateau de Vincennes, and then we explored the Parc Floral of the Bois de Vincennes.

We decided to hire the individual auto-guides, as we hadn't done that before, and there wasn't an English tour leaving while we were there. The most interesting part was absolutely the donjon, but it wasn't a donjon until the 16th century; before that it was the keep. It was a lot of fun to make our way up the stairs and across the walk to the inside of the keep. 800 years ago you couldn't enter it at ground level, only from the boardwalk from the exterior wall, on the first floor.

Charles V was apparently an amazing man. He spent 8 hours a day governing and 8 hours a day studying and praying. He always had a chapel and a study built in any of his residences. He was known as The Wise, and would have a discussion about some religious or scholarly text every evening before dinner. He also had ancient Greek philosophy text translated into French, so that people could be better educated.

Another interesting thing he did was to require an extra tower to be built to accomodate a separate private area with a latrine built in. There are latrines on five floors of the keep, each with a chute to the bottom. I was very proud to have my photo taken on Charles V's latrine. One degree of separation, and a very personal one at that. In the small tower next to his private bedroom, there is a small study, the latrine room and the treasury - quite small, I thought. When he went away, only he had the key, and the room would be sealed with wax in his absence. He sounds like a great king, and when he died, the kingdom was strong and peaceful. Years later, the towers in the keep were all turned into prison cells, and some famous prisoners were kept there, including the Marquis de Sade. There is a letter there which he wrote to his wife. I was shocked she stuck with him, actually. I don't think many would.

Napoleon 1 also stuck his confessor, a monsignor in one of the cells. Without reviewing the historical facts, my first impression was that Napoleon must have confessed to some stuff he really didn't want anyone else to know about. Other famous French people whose names I can't remember also spent time in there. Interestingly, there is also tons of grafitti. Dates in the 1600's... so eery... One which I translated said, roughly, "Placed here January 31st, a German, having already spent two months at Chatel, and a month at Bastille for convulsions". There are pictures drawn by the prisoners, and phrases here and there, and I must say that it was much milder than the grafitti I saw on the Boggo Road prison walls when I visited there a while ago!

Unfortunately the chapel was closed, and won't open until early 2009, according to the sign, but we did see other interesting bits, like a sad single white cross in the eastern moat, where the Waffen SS shot 21 Frenchmen and buried them in a pit the prisoners themselves were forced to dig.

Hugo had his dream visit to the gift shop, and bought a wooden sword, a helmet and a shield. He has been, throughout the afternoon, Sir Hotsalots, Sir Christopher, Sir Zessaa and Sir Hugo. When he threatened the Lady Rachel, she rammed his sword into the ground, and he was very cranky about the grass stains which ensued. It was a good thing it wasn't a real sword, or there might have been a disaster of Medieval proportions.

Afterwards, we needed ice cream and some fresh air, so we headed over to the Parc Floral du Bois de Vincennes. It was so pretty, and so large and green. It reminded us a bit of the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane. We caught a kiddy train and took a tour of the park, ate our ice cream, and wandered through the butterfly enclosure. There were other things and botanical displays, but they'll have to wait. We didn't want to walk the length of the Chateau to get back to the metro, so we opted for some above-ground travel, and caught a bus going to Gare du Nord. Several people brought their dogs on the bus. An African lady in an incredible outfit got on with a pram and a baby, and left the pram in the centre of the bus when she sat up the back with her baby. David kept the pram upright the whole trip. We noticed the zoo that is part of the Bois de Vincennes, and we might get back there.

An easy dinner followed - ham, baguette, salad, concombres in creme fraiche, and a curious potato/cheese/ham/ fryup thing we bought at the supermarket, and which the kids love. Once again, it's 9:30, and still very light. It just doesn't seem like bed time!

Triumph, mostly

This morning David and Hugo took off early to the boulangerie and came back about an hour later with a couple of baguettes. They'd also bought pains au chocolat, but had already eaten them:( I consoled myself with chocolate muesli...

Today we took the metro to les Tuilleries, the park outside the Louvre, and walked through the park and up the Champs Elysees, to the Arc de Triomphe. At the end of the park there is Place de la Concorde, where they used to keep the guillotine, but where there is now a couple of incredible fountains, and the Obelisk, which was taken from the temple at Luxor, in Egypt, and is an astonishing 3300 years old. The heiroglyphics on it praise Ramses II. We also found a little marionette theatre, but it wasn't opened today. We might get there, later.

About halfway up the Champs Elysees, we needed some sustenance so we bought burgers, fries and drinks at Quick. Total cost - about 37 euros, and the burgers were quite good. The photo shows the family engaging in some post-luncheon arm wrestling and thumb wars. I found the Champs Elysees a bit soulless, after the wonderful historical places we'd been.

The Arc de Triomphe, was of course, brilliant. There is some great media stuff on the middle level, and the view at the top is amazing.

What really got to me, though, was a large plaque built into the ground, beneath the tower, with a quote from General de Gaulle in 1940, after France was taken by Hitler. It was very moving. Basically, three days after the French government agreed to Hitler's takeover, de Gaulle got permission from Winston Churchill to send out a message of resistance and hope.

The BBC didn't tape it, but you can read it here I found it very moving. When I came home I looked it up to make sure I'd understood it perfectly in French, and I read of Hitler's tour through Paris after the takeover. He had planned to build Berlin into an incredible city, which would make Paris look insignificant, so he said he wouldn't bother to destroy Paris. Thank goodness.


This evening I went with David and Rachel as they completed their nightly Champs de Mars running ritual. I sat on a bench and did some writing. It's 9:50 pm and it's not remotely dark. So strange...

Not the Chateau de Vincennes

Yesterday morning David and I went for a walk to find our church chapel, as it didn't look very far. We walked through the beautiful Marais, and found it easily, in a very old building. On the way back, I finally found a watch shop, and paid a mere 4 euro for a new battery. That's about $6AUD. We also bought sim cards for two of our phones. I'd wished I'd had them the day we went to the Louvre. Where's this kid? Where's that kid???

After lunch we popped over to Chateau de Vincennes, but it was closed to visitors, because yesterday was 21st juin, the longest day of the year, and the first day of summer. It is known as the night of music, as musicians all over paris played in the streets until very late. Lots of fun. It was strange going to sleep at about 10:30pm in daylight with very loud music coming up from the streets.

Instead of Chateau de Vincennes, we went to see the crypt beneath Notre Dame - buildings and streets excavated, dating from around 1200 - both Gallic and Roman, and lots of history about Paris, which the Gauls originally called Lutece, or 'Mud'.

Afterwards we went to the Sainte Chapelle, built by Louis IX, also dating from around 1200. The windows are incredible. It is really like stepping into the Middle Ages. Fleur de lis everywhere, and lots of intricate designs. I expected Robin Hood to step in at any moment. It was actually one of the most peaceful places I've been. Originally, Louis IX bought a load of relics to keep there, including what was believed to be the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head. This brought great power, and Paris became the second most prominent Church city. Unfortunately, the relics were burnt in the revolution, and the remains are kept in a locked sanctuary in Notre Dame.

Several people told me that it is the most beautiful church in Paris. It was astounding. It also has a wall painting of the Annunciation, which is the oldest wall painting in France. Interestingly, we had to go through metal detectors to get inside, and as usual, I set it off. Hugo's theory is that my head is teeth have too many fillings. When we were at Heathrow, Alex offered me money to say,"Est-ce que je suis bovvered?" to the guard, if it went off. That's a Catherine Tate joke, if you didn't recognize it. Youtube it. Needless to say, I kept my quips to myself, but did have to endure the most physical frisking of any airport so far.

By the time we came out, the streets were FULL of people getting to celebrate the night of music, and there was a very festive atmosphere. Musicians were already playing about the place. We bought crepes with chocolate and chantilly (whipped cream) which promptly melted and dripped everywhere - delicious!

Le Louvre

This morning we made a huge effort and got going by about 10am, heading for the Louvre. On the way, we stumbled upon a boulangerie (quelle surprise!) and had lemon tarts - divine, chocolate eclairs and pains au chocolat. Mmmmm.....

I had read on the web that there is an alternative entrance to the Louvre to the big pyramid, and dragged everyone around in search of it. Finally, Hugo said he remembered where our bicycle guide guy had told us one was, and we found it. Hugo has a super sense of direction!

The escalator to which he led us took us straight down to the Carousel du Louvre - the area beneath the pyramid, and we bought our tickets with virtually no line, whereas the people upstairs were lined up for over about 30 metres.

The bicycle tour guide also told us that someone calculated that if you spent 25 seconds in front of every exhibit in the Louvre, it would take you over 6 months, 24 hours per day, to see everything. That said, we saw hardly anything! Being somewhat obsessed with Leonardo da Vinci, I loved seeing his paintings. Predictably there was a crowd in front of the Mona Lisa. The Venus de Milo was one of my favourite things today, as were the French sculptures. We also went downstairs to walk around the moat of the medieval castle they uncovered when they were excavating in the late eighties. It was amazing. We saw the bits of towers that were left, and a room from the twelfth century. Fortunately, the medieval people threw out tons of broken crockery and junk into their moat, so when it was excavated, under tons of table scraps about 800 years old, they were able to find lots of information about daily life. We couldn't go inside the dungeon, but we'll see a dungeon when we go to Chateau de Vincennes. It was a great day. I have never seen so many naked men in my life.....

After we got home, David and Rachel went off the Champ de Mars to go running. That's the park opposite the Eiffel Tower. I was glad they went to a park to run, as it's not terribly safe around the streets. I don't mean they might get attacked, I mean they might get run over! Pedestrian crossings are a serving suggestion only, and everybody, including the police, jay-walks. Cars pay absolutely no attention the crossings. I've even had to stop for cars at crossings when the little green man was clearly telling me it was my turn to go!

Beware the phantom!

Yesterday we took even longer to get up than usual, and ended up heading out at about 1:30 in the afternoon. We decided that the Palais Garnier would fit nicely into our available time, and we were all keen to see the theatre on which the Phantom of the Opera stories are based.

We got out at metro Opera, and it was right there. It is incredible, even from the outside. Once our bags were checked, we were in. Our timing was perfect to catch up with an English-speaking tour which had just left. I was so glad that we went with the guide. Palais or Opera Garnier's early history is absolutely tied to the social classes, and we would never have known that if our charming guide hadn't shared lots of fascinating tidbits with us. Here are just a few.

It was built from 1861 to 1875 by Charles Garnier. The style is extremely ornate, with about five repeated elements in different forms, with lots of gold leaf and marble. A lot of the images and statues are of Greek mythology, particularly Apollo,. Garnier wove his name into one of the ceilings, as well as putting busts of himself and his wife amongst the other gods...

The grand stairwell (Masquerade - Phantom of the Opera) is breathtaking. We entered the building through the front, which is where the cheapest ticket-holders would have entered. Then the guide took us to where the season ticket-holders would have entered. It was all planned around being seen. These people would come in and sweep up the staircase. The earlier you arrived, the better spot you would have at one of the balconies, so everyone could admire you.

Many of the seats in the theatre still bear the type of ticket they related to, so when you sat down, everyone knew whether you had entered in the poor way or the rich way.

The boxes were the best of course, and many people would come three or four times a week, if they had subscribed to a box, because if you didn't have a box, you were nobody. People would talk to their friends during the performance, and the lights were never out, so that you could see everyone and you could be seen. People in the boxes would go back behind their curtain and have a sleep, once they had shown off their dress and jewelry, and wake up for intermission, when they would be seen again. They were shocked that the Italians and Austrians would come to the theatre and be quiet, and just watch.

It wasn't until 1930 that one of the choreographers had had enough and demanded that the lights in the audience be turned off, and that the audience be quiet and watch the show. He also stopped the tradition of French men going back to the dressing rooms and rehearsal rooms (the ballerinas were often poor, and became ballerinas hoping to gain the 'patronage' of a rich man). The guide told us a story about a man in the audience who said to his wife that so and so had been seen out and about with such and such ballerina. She replied to him, "She is not as beautiful as OUR ballerina". So, it was quite accepted.

We saw box number 5, the phantom's box, and she told us the stories about the noises during construction, and how the phantom legend began. There was enough water under the theatre when it was built to take 8 months to pump out, but now there is no water except a storage container in case of fire, though the sewers are near by. Hugo loved this part.

The theatre is absolutely amazing. We watched a ballet rehearsal through a window in one of the box doors, and then when it was over, we got to go in and stand on the balcony and look around. The ceiling had to be repainted some years ago, and the minister privately had Marc Chagall do it, much to the annoyance of many Parisiens. The guide showed us that it actually contains many of the same elements of the original, destroyed by gaslight emissions and cigarette smoke, over the years.

The Opera Garnier wasn't quite finished, due to the Prussian War, which the French lost, and it was the end of French royalty, so the royal entrance was never completed - the Republic didn't want to pay for it. Outside, the guide pointed out that some of the statues of cherubs were not finished - they have ornate heads, and stone blocks for bodies!

We came home and had ham, baguettes and salad for dinner. Rachel wanted to go for a run, so she and her dad hopped on the metro to the Eiffel Tower, and ran around in the park for a while. They were there when the lights came on on the Tower, and said it was gorgous.

Yesterday we booked Altitude 95, one of the restaurants on the Tower, for Alex's eighteenth birthday on the 3rd July. Fun!

Sorry if this was too much detail, but it was an amazing place! I've left out loads! Today.... the Louvre!

The Catacombs

Today, after sleeping in and more grocery shopping, we finally got going at about midday. We decided that the Catacombs would fit nicely into an afternoon, and we could still relax tonight. It's great to be here for a month, and not to ever have to hurry at all. Some guidebooks leave out the Catacombs, and I have read some negative comments about them in tourist forums. I think they're fantastic. It's a 1.7 km walk through tunnels made from quarries in the eighteenth century. Various cemeteries were emptied, and the bones were placed in the tunnels, lining the walls in patterns. I very glad when we made it to the bones, to see that the sign said "No flash photography", as going anywhere with Alex and Rachel is a bit like being caught in a lightning storm... I love the Catacombs. It is an eery place, but you can't help but feel a sense of the people when you are looking at their skulls. Various signs along the way explain that this section contains the bones of such and such cemetery or convent, and other signs have quotes about the passing nature of life, the certainty of death, and the hope of the ressurection.

Other signs tell you clearly that you must not touch any of the bones, and I admit I couldn't resist. I wondered how strong those skulls were, and before my brain had a second to think about this choice, my knuckles tapped one of those dry old craniums. I was surprised how hard it was. Hugo told me off, and I realized that it wasn't very respectful. I hope no ghosts come after me.

I did notice that the skulls were quite small, and I used the brochure to measure David's head, then held it up to some of the skulls. This will not surprise you, but David has a much bigger head than the average 18th century person...

On the way home, we emerged from the metro exit to find a very long protest march happening on the street onto which our tiny street joins. Many unions were marching together to protest the new pension plan.

I forgot to record than on the first night, when we went to the Eiffel Tower, we had an interesting metro experience. First, as we were tired, we went down the stairs in the wrong direction. Having already swiped our Navigo cards, we couldn't reuse them at the same station, as they're programmed so that you can't keep swiping them and let lots of people through. I had to explain to the attendant, who buzzed us through, but somehow we kept getting that wrong too, and it took a while for us to all get through the gates outside his little counter. He didn't seem that impressed. When we got down to the quai, Rachel accidentally dropped her ring onto the track. I was all for leaving there, but her friends had engraved it for her, so she managed to convince to go and ask the same attendant for help. I explained it to him, and he said he would come down. We waited a bit, and he turned up with one of those claw things people pick up rubbish with, and rescued her ring. I think he was glad to see the back of us

Time to relax now - not sure what we'll do tomorrow.