What Carrie Thinks: Paris: The Louvre and Notre Dame

Parisian architecture; I have become kind of obsessed. Walking around the city in the snow (I was surprised to hear it doesn't often snow in Paris, I figured it would more than in London) was pretty amazing.

From the base in Bastille the reception staff were pretty deterred by my desire to walk to The Louvre - pretty much begging me to take the Metro. From my experience of the London Underground, it's generally better to walk, who knows what you miss otherwise.

Turns out it was only 30 minutes - and there were some sites on the way...

A little squiffy

On arrival at the Palace that houses the Louvre it was a shame it was so grey. The grey building against a bluer sky would have been far preferable.

Can you see it through the archway at the bottom?

There is no denying it's pretty amazing, and I'm not ashamed to admit I was even more keen to go and have a look being a big fan of the Da Vinci Code. Yes Tom Hanks probably has a little influence on a few of the visitors there today.

I only took one lens - so the zoom wasn't ideal

Still trying to position photos better and get the most out of the camera - whist being very aware I may get mugged any second (I'm paranoid nowadays) was a challenge. As was the one un-gloved hand open to the elements so I could actually manage the camera. Brrr...How did I do?

After the Louvre (I was too late to go in, due to the 3.5 hour delay on the Eurostar) it was off to Notre Dame, again very walkable. Along the Seine children were pushing snow off the ledge above the - I guess - tow path on to un-suspecting tourists below. Funny and cruel at the same time.

Can you see the Eiffel Tower? Look very close in the centre

Having been a fan of the Disney Movie early on in life it was kind of apparent my appreciation of culture was pretty much marred by the Hollywood effect. Robert Langham was not kneeling at the resting place of Mary Magdalene and there was no hunchback at Notre Dame Cathedral.

There was no singing from these gargoyles - just icicles from their mouths.

Nevertheless - Hunchback or not, the place is amazing. One very nice surprise was the freedom to go inside, spend all the time you need wondering around and taking photos - while there was an actual service on ~(mostly I imagine filled with tourists). The acoustics were amazing. Two singers at the alter were singing, the sound was incredible.