Paris 5

Le Louvre, details...Columns

The first column is Place de Bastille, so you'd think, maybe, it'd have something to do with Bastille Day and the 14th of July. Well, no. It commemorates some uprising and is called the "Colonne de Juillet, 1830", which roughly translates to the "column of yet another damn 19th century insurrection which we french can't take the time to explain to you so we will keep putting up these columns until you stop asking about them."

The second statue is in Place de la Republique. Maybe that has something to do with the 1789 revolution? Nope, it's dated 1893, so it's too late for the 1870 uprising (I told you the 19th century was a mess). Maybe it's for the 100th anniversary of the end of the 4 years of guillotining that happened following the revolution?

The third is easy; Napolean had it put up to commemorate his favorite thing - himself.(I told you they like pointy things.)
Parc de la Villette (for Alan)...Cour Carree...Tuileries
Pompidou, details...Street corners from Promenade Plantee
Cafe Francais

There are a few "nevers" for anyone coming to visit Paris soon:

- Never get leftover food to go (but it's okay to take the wine).
- Never wear white (at least on the metro).
- Never say "sacrebleu" (but "oo-la-la" is okay).
- Never drink wine from the bottle at a picnic (unless it's really good wine.)
- Never carry a backpack (buy something from a very trendy shop, keep the bag, and use that to carry your Pariscope, metro map, and collapsible umbrella, so you can know when the museums open, can find them, and can get there dry.)