Norm in Paris

Big long gallery!

My first impression of Paris was that it's all about scale. Large scale. All of the buildings seem to have features that are exaggerated in size. Windows are tall, archways are huge, the Eiffel Tour, although only 300m tall, when you stand underneath it, the spiderweb of girders rising above you seems mammoth! The Louvre is 700m in length at it's longest point, and we got to wander down a gallery that must have been 500ms long! Napoleon's tomb? Well, Sue called it the work of a short man.....The Pompidou? You guessed it, gargantuan! Every time we turned a corner, something huge popped out! A sculpture, a park, a boulevard, a fountain. it was indeed a place of giant surprises around every corner.

Grande tour

Big Pyramid

Which made my final feeling: this is place I need to return to. For the art mostly (I think we burned the boys out on art in Florence, darn!). We only got to glance at the Louvre, and some of the sculptures around town. We missed the Pompidou, the Orsay and the Rodin. I could spend some serious time absorbing beauty and human achievement at all those temples. And I'm sure we shall, we'll just leave the boys at home, or maybe, they'll be ready for it by the time we save up enough for another trip to Paris! We've had a taste of Paris, un petit morceau. I can't wait to come back for a mouthful!

Big staircase up to Sacre Coeur