Another full on Day...warning...it is very long winded!

I started today deciding to go to a market which was recommended by a friend from work...It is called Aligre and was quite close using the Metro System....I had such a great time chooing some great fruit and veggies, as well as a couple of pieces of cheese, some ham, salami and a baguette.  I was blown away by the prices of the fruit and veg....3 punnets of beautiful fresh raspberries for 2 euros, 2 large figs for 48 cents, 7 peaches for about 2.50, a tray of fresh dates for 1 euro...amazing.  It was great to be able to mingle with locals...one girl in a deli was very sweet and encouraging when I tried to pronounce one of the things I wanted to buy....she said I could speak french....I wonder if she was deaf??? Overall, my French experience is improving each day..
After the market I came home and put together some of the things in a baguette and took a picnic lunch with me to the Louvre....I was even more impressed when I showed my Paris pass and walked straight in without any wait whatsoever.....once in however, it was mind boggling...which way to go????  Even though there were hoardes of people, I didn't feel crowded at all....I simply wandered around at leisure, taking photos where I felt...it was nice to be able to take photos...though it does amaze me somewhat, where there are huge signs not to use camera flashes and not to touch the works, some people still do so....I found the Venus De Milo...just look for the crowds!!! which was quite stunning and also the Mona Lisa....hmmmmm....more crowds....I really wonder at some people and this is where  I think not being permitted to take photos can be a good thing.  All the people were doing were trying to get photos of themselves with the Mona Lisa, hardly stopping to actually look at the painting...and PUSHY!!!! Oh my goodness, I have never encountered such rude and pushy people EVER!!!!  One guy standing next to me actually asked me if it was the original....it was an interesting point....how do we know we are actually seeing the genuine painting???? Ooooh I love conspiracy theories!!!! 
I would have liked to seen the painting a bit closer, hoever it was not to be....not to worry, I enjoyed many other works much more than this anyway!  There was a painting of the Wedding at Canaan which was incredible...and so massive...I actually quite enjoyed some of the sculptures...I sort of whizzed through most of the Italian art area, as I had seen so much in Italy and was, quite frankly, over it!!!  I may return again tomorrow to see some of the other areas....in fact, I think I'll look on line to get some idea of what I would like to see.
Having wandered around the Louvre a couple of hours, I found some shade outside and sat and ate my yummy lunch.
After this, I headed over to the Musee D'orsay.....wondering if I was bitting off more than I could chew trying to see two iconic galleries in one day!
Well, what a difference...as I walked into the Musee D'Orsay, I went into a temporary exhibition called Beauty, Morals and Voluptuousness (in the England of Oscar Wilde)... I must admit, the title really did not inspire me to enter, however, I am SO glad that I did....it had so many things from the Arts and Crafts/ Aesthetic Movement, including William Morris.  It had some tapestries, furniture, ceramics (in my favourite Blue and White), and was altogether a feast for my eyes!!!  I spent ages in there and would have really loved to take photos...however they are not allowed in this gallery...which brings me back to my previous comment...I may well have just taken hoardes of photos without actually seeing what I was looking at....It was hard to draw myself away from this....but I did....and made my way throughout the rest of the gallery.  I didn't see much in the way of the impressionists....perhaps I walked past one of the gallery areas...it was laid out in an unusual way.  I did however see a whole lot of Vincent Van Gogh paintings...which were amazing...the colours he used I really liked....
After a couple of hours here, I caught the hop on hop off bus and went around the route again...I was going to do a few other things, but decided just to head back to the apartment and chill out....need to decide what I'll do tomorrow...might try and get to Saint Chapelle, back to the Louvre, and who knows what else!!!

Just for your enjoyment and a change of scenery, here are a couple of photos from my time in Italy...the first is me in the Colosseum.  The second is of the yummy lunch I had a a place called Cul De Sac...recommended by a friend from work...they were the best tomatoes I have ever had, up until the ones I bought today!  Sorry I haven't uploaded any more photos...it took an age for these to load.  I have been trying to load some photos onto Flickr.... once I have done this, will post a link if you're interested.

Till tomorrow, love to all, Lisa