A Perfect Metro Moment

August 6, 2010, Friday

We got to spend the day in the Louvre. Anyone who has visited the Louvre knows that you could spend a week in the Louvre either because you got lost or because you wanted to see at least 1/10 of the largest museum in the world. We went in the morning, packed our lunch which we ate in the gardens of the Palais Royale, did some shopping along Rue de Rivoli, went home to rest a bit and eat dinner then returned to the museum for another 3 hours because the Louvre is open until 10 PM on Wednesday and Friday. Our tickets were good for all day and another beauty of Paris is that kids under 18 are free for almost all museums – gotta love that!

This is just a short post about one of our trips to and from the Louvre on the Metro. We switched trains at Bastille and as we were making our way from one train to another we heard some beautiful music. That is not unusual as there are often musicians playing for the Euros they collect. We have heard several lone violin players that also have a sound system set up which plays the score of a full orchestra behind them. We thought we would find the same again, but as we rounded the corner there really was an almost full orchestra set up. There were at least 6 violinists (some may have been violists), 2 cellists, one bass player and someone else selling their CD’s. The music was BEAUTIFUL and most of the players were quite young (some probably only 15 or 16). In addition to the beautiful music, there was a small sandwich shop/bakery in the Metro and the smell of fresh bread added to ambiance. It was a perfect (and very French) Metro Moment. To complete the experience we found the platform for our next train close at hand (not always the case) and a seat on the train (also not always the case) which felt good to our Louvre weary feet.