Lost in the Louvre.

We spent a good 7 or 8 hours in the Louvre. Much of it was attempting to find our way out. Tim got us very very lost and refused to stop and read a map he just persisted it will be down here or around here...and we would find ourselves in another room going in another direction not at all in the area we expected to be in. I was at one stage wondering if I should have brought him along with me. He was rushing this way and that and I was limping along behind him on my injured knee.

Having said that the Louvre is a delightful place to get lost in, and once we found our way out and got a drink we went back in with renewed vigour and our friendship restored. Luckily it was open till 9pm although we could have spent more time in there easily. There are miles of things to see and we missed some -even though Tim did his best to make sure we saw it all. I read in our Paris Pass booklet a suggested day out it included the louvre and two other art museums in one day with a stop for lunch. I can not understand how this could be possible- then when we got into the Louvre there were big black arrows pointing Mona Lisa this way. That is how it would have to be done put your joggers on scoot past most displays and see one or two pieces in each gallery. The Louvre is huge, it is amazing to think it was once a royal palace. No wonder the people got a little cross.

Here is a snippet of what we saw in the Louvre.

 About midday outside the Louvre.

The crush in front of the Mona Lisa (all those doing the one day art tour of Paris!)

 

 It was getting late and we happened upon a tea room. A timely stop for tea enabled us to keep going until closing time!

 Resting my poor old knee!

 

pictures of paris.

I've been home for a couple of days now- actually almost a week! I now have 4 grown up children living with me. Bantam Boy's girlfriend has moved back in and Chicky Babes school friend Bek has moved in here too. (Her stepmother I think took lessons from fairytale school of step mothering!) So we have a large family now in a small house. I've been trying to declutter and rearrange the house to fit us all in. I still have a way to go! Today I couldn't do anything because of a bad headache that I just couldn't shake. It has almost gone now so I'm up for a little while and decided to browse through my photos of Paris on our first day there.If you've read my travelpod blog sorry my reminiscing may include some repeats!

Our lovely little apartment.

 An antique and bric-a-brac market just down the road from our apartment.

 Tim was in his element.

 A view of Paris from a hilltop in Montmartre

 Sacre Coeur was so crisp white against the clear blue, blue sky

 The crowds in the front were huge!

 Around the back there were very few people ...

 and a lovely little tree lined park. I'm going to plant some similar trees in my front yard now. I loved the dappled light and the changing colours.

 Paris is winding cobbled streets and getting lost.

and some creative parking!

travelpod

Chicky Babe found this free travel blog site and set me up with a travel blog. You can map your journey, write posts and upload photos. Later on you can turn it into a book too which could be cool- depending on how much it costs.
Anyway I will try to post on my travelpod site while I an away. Some of the kids from school are interested in following my trip- I taught Social Studies to them and we researched cities of the world and had to persuade me to visit the city and tell me why they thought people first settled there. So they are keen to see where I go and what I see there. So I promised that if I had time I would post some photos for them. As I would rather they didn't have access to my personal blog this alternative seems like a good option. So if you'd like to check on my trip progress check out bernadettek's great adventure.

oh oh!

I thought french women don't get fat. Therefore I thought that I wouldn't be able to find things to buy while I was there.
I thought I'd google plus size fashion Paris.

I am delighted to find that there are a few shops - in fact some somewhat close to where I will be staying. Although these models don't look all that plus size to me they have clothing size 16 upwards. I like the print on this t-shirt, it looks very 1920's from what I can see, it reminds me of my favourite silent movie star book.)

This could be dangerous to my budget. I think I will have to pack less, as advised by Fifi and take my credit card.

crocheted hats and 'smart casual'

I've been busy crocheting some hats to wear on my holiday. They go with my outfits and scarves that I've made and received as a gift for my birthday from Anki.

   

I've had fun making them up as I go. increasing until they match the size of a beret then decreasing again until it fits snugly on my head.

This photo looks like I've been punched in the eye. I assure you I have not. I do however have a cold and a  tooth ache and I am off to the dentist tomorrow. I am hoping that the darkness is from my sinusitis and that fixing my tooth might fix that too. Or maybe I need more sleep and less stress.
I am so phobic when it comes to the dentist that I have put this off and off but now I have faced the fact that it needs to be taken care of and my holiday will be all the better for it. But I am feeling quite sick with anxiety about it.

Oh we did have success with Tim's 'smart casual' attire for our trip- once I put my foot down and took him in hand and took him shopping (much to the amusement of the girls in the shop.) But I think that the effect is quite good.

But the cat was wet...

I went to find my brush to brush my hair this morning.
It was on the floor in my daughter's bedroom - full of cat fur!!!!
"But the cat was wet and we needed something to brush her with, it was an emergency."
I note that none of them thought the emergency warranted them using their own brushes to brush the cat.

Prelude to the story.
The poor old dog has fleas for the first time in his life (maybe the second time.) He is an inside dog predominately and we rarely have had any problems with these nasty little creatures. But the cat tends to wander and brought home fleas from the neighbour. I know exactly which neighbour because Tim works at bunnings and the neighbour didn't recognise tim and asked his assistance filling him in on the extent of his dogs flea infestation and the need to flea bomb their house.
So poor old pablo somehow managed to dislodge his flea collar and now has terrible flea bites on the inside of his legs which are driving him crazy. Tim bought some flea shampoo and gave him a bath and the kids decided that the cat was in need of a bath too.

2 weeks to go till we fly out... trying to find some "smart casual" travel clothing for tim, not as easy as it sounds.
Plus how much do I need to pack??? 7 weeks away. I've got a pair of jeans, a pair of thick pull on black stretchy pants for on the plane, 3 tunic style tops that go with leggings and my boots or my pants/jeans and clog style slip on shoes. A black wrap dress and a black skirt. A pair of sneakers disguised as a pair of mary janes, a couple of light cardigans and a thin plain black wollen jumper, long sleve thermals and several scarves and wooly hats. Oh and several pairs of black tights. Oh and a weatherproof black jacket.
How does that sound?