From Mona Lisa to McDonalds

Wednesday morning I got up early and had a long talk with Kim before heading out to the Louvre. After taking the tram, returning to my hotel for my camera, and taking the tram again, I arrived at the mall under the Louvre. I had a nice lunch of beef wok with a spring roll, it was delicious and quite filling compared to some of the other European portions. Between the lunch counter and my seat I must have passed by people speaking five or six different languages. It is interesting to see the diversity of tourists that visit the Louvre, I assume on a daily basis since I visited on a Wednesday. I made it into the Louvre (after waiting in line) at about 1:30 p.m. and quickly got a headset and set off for the Mona Lisa. But, after discovering the crowd in that section of the museum I decided to wander into another area. The Louvre is amazing, everything begs for a picture or a long stare. I took plenty of pictures to remember the things I saw, although I’m sure a better print could be bought somewhere. My favorite thing was probably the Stone of Hamman (that may not be correct, this is all from memory), a seven foot black stone that is carved with the basis and epilogue for an ancient King, but the middle is all legal precedent, the oldest written legal text. It covers cutting out the tongue of an adopted child that claims he is not the parents, or divorcing an unfaithful wife (yea, divorce in ancient times). The Venus de Milo was also interesting, according to my audio info it should actually be called the Aphrodite de Milo since it is done in a Greek style. Also the Egyptian area itself was all incredible; there were sarcophagus and statues of ancient gods, and little sarcophagus for cats. Apparently the Ancient Egyptians had all sorts of animal cults, I feel like I knew this from some history class, but seeing a large collection together really made me appreciate the grandeur. But, as I could go on all day with the interesting things in the museum, I’ll leave it at that and encourage everyone I know to visit if they get a chance. The room with the Mona Lisa was quite stunning, although the portrait itself is over glorified. It is set off by two guards and a guardrail which separates a large space between tourists and Ms. Lisa. I think the beauty of the portrait is its subtlety, finding beauty in the simple. In setting off the portrait it looks somewhat fake, trying to gain a sort of glamour that the woman in the painting finds uncomfortable. Anyway, this time I really am done talking about the artwork. On my way out, or attempting to get out, I couldn’t help but be stopped again and again by pictures that required me to stop and look. But ultimately I made it out about 9:30 p.m. (closing time) and headed back to the hotel as it started to drizzle. The park (the same one from the day before) next to the Louvre is beautiful at night, the ferris wheel lights up, you can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance, and there are still people out sitting in lawn chairs and just enjoying the evening. As I got back to my hotel, I realized I hadn’t eaten since lunch so I went looking for a restaurant, but the rain combined with the shady places and strip club promoters around my hotel led me to go into the McDonalds across the street and get some take-out for the night. I ate my McDonalds and watched the end of a Chinese movie with French sub-titles about false imprisonment, love, and dreams. It’s amazing how much you can get out of a movie just by the action, tone, and body language.

Thursday I didn’t have much time before my 12:00 p.m checkout and 2:00 p.m. train to do very much. I had a slow breakfast, it’s just bread and jam, but you can get tea or coffee. I took another short walk around my hotel and discovered the Moulin Rouge down the street and many more sex shops. The Moulin Rouge was a let-down. I did not go inside but the outside façade is just a plan storefront with a little windmill and a sign. Some of the sex theatres had better signs. I made it to the train station with my luggage; the tram stations don’t have elevators but go two or three floors under-ground. I had some lunch, a bagget (sp?) with chicken. The train from Paris to London went through some nice countryside and under the English Channel. The train goes into a tunnel and comes out of a tunnel in about twenty minutes, you never really even see the ocean.

The train station had a beautiful and quite large statue of a soldier kissing a woman. The weather here in London is actually somewhat cold, overcast with a breeze. The cabs actually do look like those funny station wagon type vehicles. I think London sets itself off as a ‘completely’ different place. The people drive on the other side of the road, the money is different, and even the atmosphere is somber. I feel like London is a pub, dreary and suspect of others, whereas the other places felt more like restaurants, welcoming and with a variety to offer. But, in defense of London, it could just be the extended trip and day of travel that has affected my perspective.

The people here speak English, but I’m not so sure they are any more accommodating because of it. The streets are clear and the people seem somewhat more conservative than those in Paris. The people at the pub where my hostel is were also somewhat antagonistic when I first walked in, as if I were an intruder. In retrospect I might have spent more time in Paris and less in London, but I’ll see what tomorrow has in store.