Paris, Day 2

Paris, city of contrasts! A lovely day today; warm, humid with a refreshing downpour in the afternoon. This piece from the Arc de Triomphe sums it up beautifully- grand ideas, exquisite detail, yet still with a cheeky oohh-la-la touch!
This was TV in the 1600's: Jesus and the doubting Thomas. Look at the other disciples in the windows- like naughty schoolboys peeking into the girls' changing rooms. This is from a series in the Notre Dame Cathedral. Quasimodo was nowhere to be seen. The various churches, cathedrals and so on are just overwhelming- there is simply too much detail on every possible level. I found myself walking past masterworks from hundreds of years ago, any one of which would stop me in my tracks anywhere else, with barely a glance. Even the frames are works of art!
Me and her at the Arc de Triomphe. Sorry about the chin(s)! Apparently Napoleon won some Grand Final way back- they are still celebrating! We were accosted shortly before taking this pic by a Kosovan refugee (or so he claimed!) He 'found' a gold ring at our feet and tried to say it was ours- even slipped it onto Rhonda's finger- and would have started the scam then to turn a 2 dollar ring into a 50 dollar collect. I put it into his top pocket, he kissed both our hands and as I tried to pull away I accidently smacked him in the nose, honestly, officer!
He went off muttering foul oaths about my father and his relationship to my mother, only to 'drop' the ring again at another unsuspecting couples' feet. It's a living, I guess. Another woman, maybe his mother, simply lay prostrate in the middle of the footpath, with a begging cup in her outstretched hand. "Contrasts!" I was heard to mutter. Sarkozy wants to kick all the Roma (gypsies) out of France. There is a fight on. Didn't Adolf have a similar plan? Something needs to be done, though. They work really hard at fleecing 2 euros from American backpackers and middle-aged Australian couples- why couldn't they work at a real job and make 20 times that much?

Notice the hands on the clock of the Musee D'Orsay. They are stuck on 12 minutes to 9. Somebody call Dan Brown quick!

And finally, a musical number. Cost me 2 euro, but we were both satisfied with the result.