Only a 30 minute queue to the baggage x-rays before gaining entry to the Hall Napoléon, the huge reception area underneath the glass Pyramid.
We queued in front of brilliant Pylones.
Starbucks.
Fossil.
Bose.
And Apple.
Progress was good and in less than 30 minutes we made it to the inverted pyramid and through the x-ray security point.
The Hall Napoléon, spiralling down from the main entry Pyramid, is where you buy your ticket and audioguide before choosing one of the three major gallery wings, the Denon, the Sully or the Richelieu. Paul had first choice and he elected to visit (again) the apartments of Napoleon III, so we headed into the Richelieu.
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the first president of the French Republic and the last monarch of France. He was made President by popular vote in 1848, and then he crowned himself Emperor Napoléon III in 1852.
His history is complicated, as is the history of all Bonapartes and he spent most of his early years in exile in New York and London.
His lasting legacy to France was the modernisation and rebuilding of Paris. However, under his command in 1870, France was crushed by the Prussians led by Bismarck and displaced as the major land power in Europe by Prussia and ultimately by Germany. Napoléon was humiliated and exiled again.
Empress Eugenie.
Eugenie's crown.
And tiara. The crown was beautiful, delicate and very fashionable, but the pearls were breathtaking.
Much of the apartment is panelled in this wood, oak I think with a stunning motif.
The sumptuous reception rooms did not photograph well - all shimmering crimson silk and candelabra with the light coming from the wrong directions. But I did better with the dining room.
In the short vestibule where guests waited to be seated in the dining room was this gorgeous marble of a young boy, poking a stick at a fish - he looks just like you, Henry!
The pièce de résistance though, is the staircase. Various shades of white marble with a fabulous gilded and wrought iron chandelier and matching balustrades.
Beautiful arches and curves. I'm a sucker for good staircase, so I had to walk down it to the front door.
It was my choice next and I elected to visit the Pharaonic Egypt section. To get there we had to pass through the two sculpture courtyards.
These great luminescent spaces under their steel and glass domes are serene.
The statues are huge. One courtyard is mainly, but not entirely bronze and the other mainly marble.
Because the building itself is protected from the weather and vehicle pollution, it remains pristine.
Potted trees grow well here in the intense light.
Mercury, attaching his winged spurs.
With King Sargon II of Assyria and his dignitary. Still heading for Egypt and getting closer.
Ah, here we are. The sphinx is one seriously large piece of pink granite.
We finally got to the mummies and it was 5.45 pm, time to clear the building. We'll just have to come back again. So much to see and so little brain capacity to process it all.
Back to the Hall Napoléon and the Pyramid. This is the first and only time for the entire day that everyone is moving in the same direction - out.
Back through the Galerie du Carrousel, past the cleaning shop and out into the - surprise, surprise - sunshine!
Six o'clock at Palais Royal and despite the shadows, the air is warm, the sky is blue and there are people playing games everywhere. Soccer, petanque and scooters prevail.
We queued for pork buns at a renowned hole in the wall just off rue St Honoré. No pork left but the vegetarian options were excellent - aubergine, asparagus, fois gras and gruyere (not all together). Interesting how the cultural blur occurs.
We weren't home five minutes before Paul was celebrating Spring - again.
Oh, Pylones, how lovely. Henry says he's riding a turtle. Wish we were there! xx
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