All Things Considered

Wearing in My New Shoes

Across the road from Notre Dame, within spitting distance of the bouquinistes (the book stalls that line the streets alongside the Seine), stands the world famous bookshop 'Shakespeare & Co.', which is as popular as ever.

During the afternoon, after a serving of tarte tatin at Les Deux Magots, we headed off to the Louvre, which stays open late on Wednesdays and Fridays (until around half past nine, I think).

My primary reason for visiting any museum is to see the Japanese collection, something that the Louvre doesn't have as it was transferred to the Musée Guimet in 1945, when the Guimet transferred its Egyptian collection to the Louvre, but I also have a great interest in Egyptian antiquities. My favourite piece in the Louvre is this painted sandstone pillar fragment (below), from 1353-37 BCE, that depicts Akhenaten and comes from the Temple of Amon at Karnak. My photographs can't accurately depict this piece's size and presence. It sits atop a pillar, high above the heads of visitors, and dominates the room.

Aside from the Egyptian antiquities, I am fascinated by the louvre itself... the wall and ceiling decorations which are simply breathtaking. These shots of two of the ceilings were taken within the Egyptian antiquities department.

And Then My Shoe Blew Up...

We were just about to hop on the metro to head off to Notre Dame when all of a sudden my shoe exploded. Well, perhaps it didn't explode exactly, but it most certainly self-destructed. I have never seen a shoe fall apart in such a dramatic fashion... and it certainly isn't something I'd have expected from a Hush Puppy. The lower sole broke into two pieces, the upper sole came away from it, and the central padding fell out, right there on the platform. So, there I was, with my footwear thinking it was a jigsaw puzzle of a million pieces, with no alternative but to tape it back together with the sellotape that I just so happened to have in my handbag. And with a taped up shoe, we headed off to the shops, trying to look inconspicuous. Of course, the bright sunlight caught the tape and made my foot gleam so brightly that passers-by were blinded by its luminosity!

Finally, we made it to Galeries Lafayette, and I entered Louis Vuitton, one of the most distinguished shopping establishments in the entirety of France, with sellotape all over my foot. Thankfully, the assistant was very helpful and I was soon sporting a lovely pair of deck pumps... so it was Vuitton to the rescue... but oh, the indignity of it all! If that wasn't enough, all the hobbling, or maybe the shock from the exploding slip-on, has left me with a pulled ligament in my left knee. I am not complaining, of course, as I got a lovely pair of shoes out of it all. Now if my handbag would just blow up, I'd be a very happy gal!

A Little About Lille

Although we've been coming to Lille for a decade, we've never actually been during the summer, usually choosing to visit in December when the Christmas market is here, along with the Ferris wheel, decorations, and the festive music ringing out across the Grande Place. Whatever the season, Lille is always an excellent place to do a spot of shopping. Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Kenzo, and a multitude of other famous names can all be found in Lille.

There are stores selling just about everything, catering for every budget, and when you feel like a break you can always drop into Maison Méert for a pot of tea and some gauffres (waffles). The patisserie, with its cast iron lace balconies, dates back to 1760 and offers a selection of over a hundred teas (my personal favourite being Thé des Poètes), and don't even get me started on the cakes!

And if you want to walk off those calories (and believe me, you will), why not take a stroll down Rue de la Vieille Comédie, where Voltaire's 'Mahomet' premiered in 1741. Fancy a bit more culture? Try the Palais des Beaux-Arts, Lille's fine art museum, regarded by the French as being second only to the Louvre in Paris.