Skip to the Louvre my darling

Ready?

Sleeping rough in Paris (just across from the Louvre)

"When I say woo... I means woo!"

Still got his hair but

The Paris RSL

Don't let your jaw hang darling.

Two men with ambition

They know she's coming somehow

Hate meself I do

An armless crack at the Louvre

Me at work

Shekel for an ex-leper guv'ner?

A real character

As close as I got

Medusa's flotsam

Wolfmother

How we feel at the end of the day

Under the glass pyramid (see top)

Today was the Louvre. We tromped over fairly early to avoid the throng, but bits of it were already there. That place must have tens of thousands go through every day. We were stunned, as usual by the endless treasure trove but measured ourselves to avoid burn-out. The place is immense and labrinthine.

The statues have great appeal and I like to see the range of subjects an artist is prepared to countenance. The subject matter is sometimes bizarre but the execution is always inspired. I've included a lot of photos today to try to give an impression of the range.

We've arrived at night four in Paris and we still haven't booked anything. We're thinking a ten day flexible pass on Eurrail (about $A700 apiece) and to head to either Nice or Rome. Barcelona would be great but the travel time is a killer. Slow trains only over the Pyrennees I'm afraid. We tried to find a travel agent this afternoon but random didn't work. We have a few marked on the map for tomorrow and we'll see if we can do it all and launch off south. No trouble to stay another night but I'd rather move on.

We received a lot of helpful advice, at that soiree last night, from other seasoned travellers, but the complication of driving a car through France is a bit too high pressure I think. Maybe we'll do something like that later.

Had a great lunch after the Louvre, they actually asked how I would like to have my duck cooked. Wow. It was one of those scenes that one dreams of, it makes the trip that much more real in my mind.

So, as far as plans go, we are still tossing around a few ideas. Barcelona is tempting but complicated, Provence is more so, Italy is easy and accessible, Prague is a big detour and Berlin is unmissable, they say. And that's only the short list.

We don't want to try to do too much but we want to make the most of our time here. As one would.

Any suggestions are welcome from the silent majority out there.

ps

I have found out how to reduce the size of the pics, so they aren't poster-ready anymore. I'm sure you won't notice. If you want a particular shot blown-up drop me a comment and I'll be there for you.