Monuments and Museums: Day 2

We started our second "museum marathon" day at the Jardins des Tuileries, which is the garden/park grounds of the Louvre.  We were surprised that the "gardens" were had almost no grass - they are mostly sand/gravel with manicured trees, shrubs, and a fairly small number of flowering plants.

We've been pretty slow getting going in the mornings on account of crappy sleep due to heat, jet lag, etc., so the heat of the day was already on us when we got into the city (33ºC).  Nonetheless, there were people enjoying the sun everywhere - sitting on benches, chairs, under trees, around the fountains...

at the cafés in the garden...

I have a feeling that the people getting the most out of the Jardins des Tuileries were the people in the pictures, most of whom I don't think are tourists.  I think Parisians enjoy what the city has to offer as much or more than tourists, even places that might be considered "touristy".

Of course, there are dozens of impressive sculptures in the garden...and even some wildlife that cooperated for my photo better than the statue (who looked away, annoyed)...

On the long approach to the Louvre, you gradually get an idea of the scale of the place.  Once you're close to it, you notice that its not monolithic.  Since it was built in stages, each different part has unique architecture and features, all of it stunning.

The Louvre actually houses several museums (besides the Musée du Louvre itself).  It also houses the Musée de Arts Décoratifs, which itself is a collection of three separate museums.   It was also the closest place to get inside out of the sun, so we ducked in at the first opportunity.

One of the secondary museums in the Musée de Arts Décoratifs is the Musée de Mode et du Textile, which presents rotating fashion and style exhibits.  Part of this was a display of jewellery from about the XVIth century onwards.

The current fashion exhibit showed fashion of the major design house from the 70's and 80's.

I found out after taking this picture that photos were "interdits", so I don't have anything further from this exhibit, or the main part of the museum, which included a special exhibit about "Les Lalanne".  Les Lalanne are husband/wife designers/artists who created amazing most whimsical pieces and installations  - mostly of stylized animals in metal.  I especially liked the rhinoceros that turned into a set of chairs, and the insect that turned into a toilet.  Kind of like real-life transformers, without the cheesy special effects.

We recharged a bit and ate a snack in a grassy area that had at least some shade before heading into the Musée du Louvre.  Since we had our museum passes, we were able to get in immediately through a separate entrance.

Once inside, we tried to make our way directly to Napoléon III's apartments. However, we found the signage very confusing signage (not the first time on this trip), so we took a round-about way, passing through the airy French sculpture display.

We eventually found our way to Napoléon III's apartments and saw some jaw-dropping rooms with chandeliers the size of Volkswagens.  Oh! I mean the size of Renaults...

We didn't have a lot of time before closing, so we finished up the day's visit by wandering around the French sculpture some more, and leaving via the I.M. Pei pyramid.

We paused in the Jardins du Palais Royal - another sandy/gravelly garden, but surrounded by tiny (but swanky boutiques) and cafés.

Afterwards, I somehow convinced Danielle that we should stop at BHV on the way home (it's not on the way home).   On the way, we wandered through some narrow, interesting streets and stumbled on one of Paris' remaining  covered walkways.

We eventually found our way to BHV, but found that it was closed (open late on Wednesdays).  We did, however, get our second view of the wild moving sidewalks in the cavernous Châtelet-Les Halles metro station, before heading home on a train with questionable ergonomics.

We arrived home after 9PM, completely fried from the heat and too tired to even make a salad.