Day off in Paris!

It was one of the rarest nights I slept all relaxed and feeling so happy to wake up in the free world. We stayed in the hotel till noon though we did have the option to leave early so we can enjoy our last day here.
It was May Day and one of the rarest days that most of the public estates were taking their day off. I heard only Christmas and New Year's Day would be the same!

May Day!

they seem to buy flowers this day...


suddenly a metro car turned into a concert hall!

We strolled off to Eiffel Tower and started waiting on line at around 12:30, but we had to stand in line for more than an hour!


people around the park to be models...


quite high!


a long long line of people!

When we finally got to the ticket stand they were saying that the top floor is temporarily closed! I was outraged, but could do nothing...

CLOSED!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?

After getting to the second floor, we found out the top floor could be opened...
We waited for another half an hour to get the tickets to the top and we got it!


view from the second floor...


there's still a long way upwards!


what's this line!? is it...?


yes! tickets to the top floor!

It was a different world at the top floor and we were satisfied!

the ARC!


Montparnasse Tower?


And La Seine


great... especially with champagne!


too happy to get drunk!


oh... some smoke...
(we later on found out there were demonstrations all over the city because it was May Day!)


9,739km to Tokyo!


hey boys! nice day to work, right!?

We then went to the L'Arc de Triomphe and strolled down the Champs-Élysées to finish off our trip!


before going to the Arc... lunchtime!


the familiar burgers...


it says... "Chez McDo"!
like we say in Osaka! (Makudo!)

And to the destination!

L'Arc


And L'Avenue des Champs-Élysées!

I had some last minute beers with another elder colleague based here and we had a nice chat together!

The three day visit here was splendid. It rained on the first day and the weather forecast was saying that it could rain the rest of the days too, but perhaps with the mercy from God, it was mostly sunny and quite warm throughout our stay from yesterday and we didn't even need our coats!

It was time to leave the city and take the flight back to... oh I don't even want to mention it...

Au revoir, Paris!


last beer in Paris!


many police vans countering demonstrations!


back to CDG... end of our trip!

Foot ache in Paris!

My feet were aching so badly as we were walking for hours in Paris!

Bonjour!

a nice French breakfast to start with!

We bought the 2 day museum pass, but since tomorrow was May Day when most of the museums were closed, we decided to leave the Tour D'Eiffel tomorrow and try to see many museums as possible today!

First, we went to the famous Cathedral of Notre Dame...

starting early in the morning!

a line of people waiting!


walking up the stairs...


bonjour!


nice view guys!


oh there's the tower!


closer up!


nice view to the other side!

We then moved on to La Sainte-Chapelle...

lots of beautiful stained glass!


très bien!

And the La Conciergerie...

dark room to be stuffed in...

oh there she is!

We took the subway and arrived at the Louvre just after midday...


The Louvre was huge and it could take days to really enjoy the works of art! I'm not really acquainted to paintings and sculptures anyway, so we just took a quick tour around to see the major displays including the Iranian art...


in the entrance... I saw this in Da Vinci Code!


too many sculptures here!


too many pictures here!

Can't miss the famous ones!

without the face...


without her arms!


oh... she's heavily guarded!
let's see how Lupin the 3rd will snatch this one!


hey! me too!


oh... I want to sleep too... but I think you should hide your...


don't wanna work like them!


time for lunch!


welcome to Egypt...


roar!

roar roar!

uhh... roar!?

mmm...

Iranian art...

Persepolis!?


how did they get this!?

I could understand how the Iranians will feel when they see the Persian masterpieces held in a museum so far away from home...

Our legs and feet were aching after hours of walk in the museum, but we went on to see two more museums...

leaving the Louvre...


The smaller Arc!


stopping for ice cream!

The Musee de l'Orangerie first...

screen of pictures!


beautiful... yes...


moving on... there's the next museum!


he has his own museum!


nice sketches!

And then to Musee d'Orsay!

roar!


time to think where to go next!


oh... I think I've seen this before...
not the real one of course!


oh... he must be...


finished! yes!

The day was over so quickly but my wife had one more ambition!

We went to a regular supermarket to buy things we wouldn't be able to near our residence! I didn't know we could use credit cards, but now I know you can buy anything with the carte de credit!


ordinary supermarket


where you can buy things you can't buy in Iran!

We spent our night with one of my colleagues working in Paris after meeting with his family and I was so sleepy at night... still there was work waiting and I had to finish it off before going to sleep...


a nice meal we had at night...