Medieval Masterpiece, Gardens and Works of Art

Saturday? Already?

I looked out of the window to see..

We headed first to St Chapelle, it was built in the first half of the thirteenth century and is considered to have one of the finest collections of thirteenth century glass anywhere.

I have to admit that I was excited to visit this but was a little disappointed. Oh the glass is very fine but you can't really see the Chapel it is surrounded by other buildings and to be honest I'd rather visit King's College Chapel in Cambridge.

So we went for a stroll

We were heading for the Jardin des Tuileries.

This garden/park was very popular. There were lots of chairs that you can move about and sit soak up the atmosphere, read a book etc... And many Parisians were doing so.

A fair bit of modern art

We  stopped for lunch by one of the ponds in the park - a Croque Monsieur and a glass of wine (the only disappointing meal of the trip - nice location though).

Lunch companions

There were two of these acting as lawnmowers. They could quite reach the flowers!!

We were heading towards the Louvres when the rain came!! So we went in!

We head to the Mona Lisa (you do) and I was disappointed. You couldn't get close and it was full of people waving cameras at it and letting off flashes. I was reminded of this excellent article.

It was tempting to not take any but a strange thing happened. Trish and I were discussing a painting  in the Uffizi which has two sides and what did we see.....

So I took a few pictures to show you. At least I stopped to look and not just walk around snapping.

OC......

The Galerie d' Appollon

I doubt we did a third of the Louvre. But wonderful though it was I preferred the Uffizi. The Florentines ban photography and limit numbers and you know I think that makes you look more. Certainly it was more enjoyable.

As we left it was still raining. We stopped at a Tabac (shop licensed to sell tobacco) that doubled as a cafe for a coffee and a soft drink.

Saw this in a shop window.

Another fine meal at La Petite Chaise. The Creme Brulee(dessert) and the Eggs on a bed of Carrot (starter) were particularly memorable. And yes a glass of champers ;)