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Darkstar416

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Continued from Paris I...

Still on the left bank is the fabulous Musée d'Orsay.
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The museum's building originally housed a railway station, Gare d'Orsay.
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Inside Musée d'Orsay. Their collection includes a variety of art from the 1848-1914 period, including a superb Impressionists section.
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Musée d'Orsay (cont.)
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Musée d'Orsay (cont.)
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A view of Musée du Louvre from the terrasse of Musée d'Orsay.
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From the terrasse of Musée d'Orsay...looking north towards Montmartre/Sacré-Coeur.
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A statue on the terrasse of Musée d'Orsay.
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The cafeteria inside Musée d'Orsay.
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Musée d'Orsay (cont.)
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Musée d'Orsay (cont.)
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simply Dan admiring Gustave Caillebotte's "Raboteurs de Parquet" (1875).
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Musée du Louvre.
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We'll come back to the Musée du Louvre a little later, but for now, here's a pic of I.M. Pei's famous pyramid.
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Then it was time to check-out Montmartre, but first we had to navigate the stairs in the Abbesses métro station.
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Abbesses métro (cont.)
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The labyrinth-like streets of Montmartre are quite different from the rest of the city. Basically, one of the few notable areas not to be touched by Baron Hausman's massive rebuilding plan.
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As we slowly ascend Montmartre a boulangerie grabs our attention...
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...and keeps our attention. Those big pink and green things are giant meringues!
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La Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre!
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Looking down from the top of Montmartre. "Amelie Poulain...is that you down there?"
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Sacré-Coeur (cont.)
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A night view of La Tour Eiffel from the top of Montmartre.
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Situated in the red-light district of Pigalle is the infamous Moulin Rouge.
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A bar in the Pigalle district. We liked their sign so we ended up avin' a few 'ere.
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The following morning we got a bright and early start on the massive Musée du Louvre.
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The Louvre Pyramid acts as a giant foyer for the museum. It was commissioned by then French president François Mitterrand and designed by I.M. Pei (the same architect as Commerce Court West in Toronto).
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The Louvre Pyramid (cont.)
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We ended up taking a guided english tour of The Louvre which I'd highly recommend for first-time visitors.
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Before Louis XIII (1610-1643) built The Louvre as a grand palace, there was actually a medieval castle once on the site. Here are the foundations of the Castle of the Louvre (under the current Musée du Louvre).
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The Greek Antiquities Gallery.
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The Etruscan & Roman Antiquities Gallery.
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The Winged Victory of Samothrace.
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The Italian Paintings Gallery. No photography of the Mona Lisa was allowed (in case you are wondering).
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Venus de Milo.
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I.M. Pei's La Pyramide Inversée avec Darkstar416!
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Arguably the biggest error ever perpetrated on Parisian soil - Le Forum des Halles. Plans are to raze this underground shopping monstrosity and to replace it with a Covent Garden-like Marché (which strangely enough was what originally sat here).
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Paris III is here.
 
The winning design for the Les Halles renovation was pretty conventional compared to the Rem Koolhaus design of colourful pyramid shapes. I hope they reconsider.

Whenever I see Winged Victory I think of Audrey Hepburn and Funny Face.
 

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