Saturday 29 May 1999. We wake in our hotel in Bougival. Every time I hear the name of the town, district or whatever, I immediately start to hear the song Boogie Nights in my head. Darn, there it goes again...
Vallaire got us all onto the coach and we headed for Paris, with him pointing out points of interest along the route into the centre of the city. One of these was the marks on the wall of the tunnel where Princess Diana died just two and a bit years ago - I'm not sure I wanted to see those, but the manner of her death is a part of the city's history now and is destined to be a part of any courier's duties when passing through that tunnel I suppose.
We pulled up in the Louvre for our first stop of the day. The arch is the Arc de Triomphe du Carousel, not the more famous Arc de Triomphe, but a smaller arch, built in 1808 by Napoleon to commemorate his Austrian victories. The four horses galloping across the roof are copies of four that Napolean stole from Venice. The originals were restored to their rightful place on St Mark's Basilica after the Battle of Waterloo. I say that loosely, because the Venetians had stolen them in the first place, from Constantinople. Through the arch is Le Jardin des Tuileries, a garden created for Catherine de' Medici. It was here that deckchairs were first invented. Or last invented come to think of it...
The Louvre was originally built as a palace in 1200 by King Philippe-Auguste. It served the purpose of filling a weak spot in the early city walls. It remained in use as a royal palace until Louis XIV, the Sun King, decided to build Versailles, moving his court there in 1672. Louis XVI planned to open the Louvre as a museum but lost his head instead. However, the rebels either thought it a good idea or thought up the same plan for themselves and in time it became the world's most famous museum.
The Louvre contains many priceless works of art and famous paintings including of course Leonardo DaVinci's Mona Lisa. Sadly we were not going into the Louvre today, but apparently the Mona Lisa is much smaller than people expect, being only 77 x 53cm (30 × 21 inches).
The Town Hall. The boulevards are lined with trees and greenery and everywhere you are reminded that, unlike central London, people live not merely work in the heart of Paris.
We were ushered back onto the coach which was parked near the Arch de Triomph du Carousel for a trip around some of the sights of Paris.
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