"India?"..."Yes..."
She was ecstatic. After all, we were from the same country as 'Amita-bashan', 'Kashol' and 'Shahroo Kaan'! This young lady had spent the earlier part of her life in Morocco and jumped up and down (in joy, I think) as she recollected the names of the Hindi movies she had seen. We learnt that Bollywood flicks are really popular where she comes from. Top of her list was 'Veer Zara'!
At that point, we were on Champs Elysses and had stopped at a small roadside stall selling beverages and snacks. Interestingly enough, 'Veer Zara' (as we soon found out) was still playing at one of the movie-halls on this very street! But this discovery was towards the fag-end of Sunday.
[Above/Right (Photo): Veer Zara @ Champs Elysses!]
Rewind.
An alarm was set for 7:30AM. This was ignored completely and eventually the four bengali sleepy-heads rose from their (much-needed) slumber at a few minutes past nine. By eleven, we had checked out and were headed towards the Louvre museum...
There was just so much to see and absorb here. All of a sudden, The Palace of Versailles was reduced to 'just another palace' in comparison... this was the 'real' thing! :-)
We travelled through time. I was reunited with my childhood heroes - Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles")... well, some of their works at least. I realized that some apparently famous Italian artists/sculptors were named after these popular cartoon characters ;-).
Quite honestly, its possible to go on about the Louvre for pages on end. I'll keep this short. For most people, some just run-of-the-mill tourists, others with that 'extra insight' (read: The Da Vinci Code), the most sought after display is still the Mona Lisa. I think we spent a good half-hour just staring at the painting... and then decided to buy a poster each, so that we could stare at it some more at leisure.
[Right/Above (Photo): Outside the Louvre Museum]
My left foot. My sprained left foot. My severely overworked sprained left foot... was making lots of 'noise'. No, actually, I was making the noise everytime I used the foot. This was... not good. But a visit to the first-aid ward took care of things for the present. I spent the rest of the day with 'cold' crepe bandage wrapped around it and made much less noise to the delight of my company. :-)
We ate lunch there like we had never seen food before (burp!)... and then 'rolled' out of the Louvre onto the walkway. Reaching the Arc de Triumph was quite honestly, a triumph indeed, of mind over body (read: long walk, with fatigued feet)!
[Left (Photo): Taking a break... L-to-R: Sujeet, Chandrani, Avishek et moi]
Meanwhile --> The Concord Square (in between the Louvre and the Arc) is sort of bang-in-the-middle of these 'touristy' places - surrounded by the Louvre, the Parliament, the Palace of Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc. While we were there, a couple of white limousines pulled up infront of us, followed by a dozen other cars. It was a Japanese invasion! Two hi-fi 'just-married' couples (sans entourage) had stopped by to click some 'fo-to-grafs' :-)
[Right (Photo): At Concord Square. The Arc de Triumph is behind us]
After the Arc, it was another long walk down to the River Seine for the final item on our list - a relaxing, refreshing boat-trip on the Seine - just what the doctor ordered. :-)
Finally, with tired legs, heavy bags and Chandrani's roly-poly strolley, we made our last journey within Paris - to Gallieni. By dawn the next day, we would be back in Breda. Yes, the fun was over. We would have to be at work tomorrow. :-(
Nevertheless, all in all, a splendid trip!
Au revoir!
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