Piazza San Marco and the Doge's Palace.

Due to a strike, the vaporetto were not running today. There was nothing for it but to walk to San Marco square. Actually Venice is not large at all and you can walk from one end to the other in under an hour. This of course assumes you know where to go and how to get there. Otherwise the streets and allies and canals can be a real maze to get through.

Following the signs we made the square in about 25 minutes. Being early was good as the inevitable crowds of visitors had not yet arrived. We could wander pretty much as we wanted and take photos without too many other people in them.

We took a tour of the Doge's palace which included the secret areas and also across the Bridge of Sighs which joins the palace to the prison next door. A stroll through the main palace is breath taking and it was designed to be just that. To show off the wealth and power of the old Venetian republic to visiting dignitaries the corridors and staircases and chambers were all embellished with gold leaf and frescoes of glorious battles and the riches they possessed. On the ceilings and walls are commonly found canvases by Tintoretto, Veronese and Titian. When Napoleon conquered the place in the late 18th century he already had in mind the art treasures he wanted to loot. You'll find them in the Louvre today. 

Unfortunately photography is not permitted inside the palace so you'll just have to go there and see for yourself.

The Basilica of San Marco was originally only for use by the Doge as a private chapel. Some chapel. The remains of St Mark were returned and interred here although he actually died in Egypt. The four famous bronze horses on the loggia of the basilica have been a permanent fixture for a couple of centuries but were in fact looted from Constantinople during the 4th crusade. The interior is almost completely decorated with not paintings but mozaics, but you have to look closely to even tell they are so finely detailed. All the background areas to the decoration of the 7 domes and the ceilings were done in gold covered tiles which gives the place a shimmering lustrous opulence. Sorry, again no photography permitted but I think I snuck in one for you.

Click here for pictures of the Doges Palace and St Marks Basilica

Arrival in Venice and the Cannaregio

Ah magnificent Venice! 
We were overwhelmed when we arrived. We took our luggage and headed off in the direction of our accomodation at the Palazzina Veneziana. Google maps have served us very well and we found it with no trouble. A lovely lady Signora Alina met us and directed us to our room which is delightful and beautifully furnished in a traditional Venetian motif. After a rest and a freshen up we went for a walk. We had planned to investigate the Cannareggio area of Venice, where we were staying and so we discovered the churches we had earmarked to see. We took off at midday and returned to our room at 5.30 quite tired. Someone had a snooze while someone else played with technology.....can you guess who?
After a suitable rest we took off again for a walk and somewhere to have dinner.  The place we found was an idyllic Pizzeria right on the Cannaregio canal. Very good value with a freshly made wood fired pizza the size of a small table for Jackie and a calzone like half a football for me. Just to add a little atmosphere a travelling minstrel came by with a piano accordion and played Que Sera, Volare and other hits. It was just like in the movies really.
Upon our return we asked our brilliant hostess Alina for some information about the Vaporetto. These are large water borne buses really and constitute the public transport system of Venice. Alina apolegetically told us they were on strike the next day! How could we complain!!!! Tomorrow would be by foot around Venice. Alina said it would be a 45 minute walk to San Marco's piazza from where we were.
Tomorrow is to be an early start but that has been the norm so far. Early mornings with lots of walking and late nights. It doesn't get dark until around 10.30 and so time slips by. It's great because you can get more done but that means  less sleep. So we will need a holiday to recover from our holiday!

Click here for pictures of Palazzina Veneziana and the Cannaregio district.

The Thello

Well we left Paris on the Thello full of excitement and anticipation. We found our cabin and burst into laughter. I don't think the proverbial cat could be thrown in it! However it was a place to have some down time and watch the French countryside go by. This by the way  is lush and green, with idyllic small towns and churches strewn everywhere. 
During the evening we were given complimentary tickets for a glass of wine or a juice.... well we didn't need much coaxing. We went to the carriage to get our drink and waited in a queue. Then there were 2 ladies in front of us and that's where they stayed and stayed and stayed debating something with the staff in machine gun French  and counting money. Then it was our turn and Tony ordered a sandwich and peanuts and wanted to pay by card. Well did that cause concern! Their machine was on the fritz and couldn't cope with the card and wanted us to pay cash. Tony had only a little cash left at the time but paid cash and then they didn't have the right money to give him change and said they would pay it later. You have to laugh!

Click here for pictures of the Thello.

Musee d'Orsay and the Gare de Lyon

This was our last day in Paris and we had a few hours to kill between checkout time from the hotel (11:00 am) and departure time for the train (7:00 pm). The hotel staff kindly offered to hold our luggage for us for the duration. So with no baggage to haul around we were virtually freed to do what we wanted to. Seeing the Musee d'Orsay was therefore a simple decision.
The museum is probably best known for its collection of Impressionist paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir and their contemporaries but carries post and pre impressionist period works as well. There is a surprisingly large collection of period and Modernist sculptures too with many works by Rodin represented. Photographing the artworks is unfortunately not permitted by we did get a great view of Sacre Coeur through the clock face on the fifth level.
The building itself is one gigantic hall, hardly surprising as in its previous life it was a railway station. While now much altered, all the exposed riveted steel beams are still a dead giveaway.

After picking up our luggage from storage at our hotel we did a quick metro scamper over to the Gare de Lyon where we would be catching the overnight train to Venice. The station itself is an enormous bussle of people and luggage coming and going in all directions but right in the heart of it is a restaurant called the Train Bleu. This used to be the buffet when the station was originally built for the Paris exhibition back in 1900. Then it was created in the lavish "Belle Epoque" style to impress the exhibition visitors and it has been meticulously restored to its exact original state. It is ungodly expensive and mostly full of "suits" doing business deals, but we stretched the budget to include a coffee and macaroons there so we could take some photos for you.

Click here for pictures of the Musee d'Orsay, Gare de Lyon and the Train Bleu.

Versailles

One of the highlights of this entire trip was the time spent at the Versailles Chateau. While usually associated with Louis the umpteenth and Marie Antoinette, it had been expanded and modified by the previous monarchs over many years. Today it is pretty much as it was before the revolution and is being meticulously restored to get even closer than that. 
While the drawing rooms and chambers inside are simply breathtaking, the gardens outside defy belief. The estate covers several hundred hectares with a dozen individually designed wooded groves, dozens of manicured gardens, fountains and an enormous crusiform artificial lake for boating and entertaining the nobility. It is said that at one time there were 10,000 gardeners employed to maintain the estate.
There are other residences on the estate too. The Grand Trianon was built as a getaway for royal family to escape the bussle of palace life in the Chateau. The Petit Trianon was built for the Queen as a private residence and a small hamlet built nearby so she could experience peasant life whenever she wanted to. It includes farms, numerous cottages and even a mill to better create an air or rural tranquility.
It is easy to see how the royals became so out of touch with what was actually happening in the country at the time.

Click here for pictures of Versailles inside.

Click here for pictures of the gardens at Versailles.

Cite de l'Architecture, Eiffel Tower and Napoleon's Tomb

We didn't really mean to see the Cite de l'Architecture, but it was on our way to the Eiffel Tower. We were walking past when the fountains at the front erupted in a spectacular display of water cannon artistry.
The Eiffel Tower, tourist Mecca and blockades of hawkers flogging souvenirs to wade through. I was also approached here with the string scam.
Down a long approach park to the Eiffel Tower is the Ecole Militaire. Turning here we ventured on to the Musee d'Armee and Napoleon's Tomb. This is well worth seeing as the classical architecture was comparitively recently built. And it's almost all marble.

Click here for pictures of fountains, Eiffel Tower and Napoleon's Tomb.

The Louvre, Tuileries and Champs Elysee.

Seeing the Louvre should really take several weeks. The artistic treasures in there just defy description. Paintings by Leonardo are hung side by side with those of Titian and Tintoretto in apparently careless arangement. Endless halls and galleries filled with exquisite Italian paintings or classical Greek statues or Egyptian artifacts or medieval ceramics. You name it and you can find the very best of it here.
The Louvre is probably the greatest tourist attraction in a city full of tourist attractions, so the crowds of tourists there can be quite enormous. And where there are tourists in large numbers there can be easy pickings for pickpockets and other con tricksters. I was approached by a woman holding a gold ring and ask if I had dropped it. This is a common scam as if you so much as take that ring into your hand for a closer look you have bought it. She will insist you pay for it and create an embarrassing scene until you do so. Best avoid the hassle by not accepting anything from strangers and keep your hand on your wallet in those areas.
Leaving the Louvre (eventually) we made our way west across a sprawling expanse of classically designed french gardening known as the Tuileries. This a very popular place for Parisians to sit and relax so we joined them and had lunch at an outside restaurant in the park under the shady elm trees.
Leaving the Tuileries you can see the Arc de Triomphe dominating the horizon and a busy wide avenue leading to it. This is the Champs Elysee and home to most of the most exclusive brand names you can think of. A stroll along it will take you past Cartier, Swarovski, Louis Vuiton, Zara, Guerlain, Tissot and god knows how many others commonly found in Harpers or Vogue. Er, we didn't do any shopping there this trip. Maybe next time.
As mentioned, the Champs Elysee leads right up to the Arc de Triomphe. In fact there are five or six major avenues that all radiate out from the Arc and the traffic is in a continual swirling whirlpool around the wide avenue that surrounds it. Don't even think about approaching it on the surface. There are no lights and no lanes. It's every man for himself in there. Follow the signs to the pedestrian tunnel if you want to visit the Arc and even climb it. They say the view from the top down all the radiating avenues is good but just too "touristy" for my (Tony) tastes. Check out the pictures, any and all comments welcomed.

Click here for pictures of the interior of the Louvre

Click here for pictures of Tuileries and Champs Elysee