More tales from Paris 3

It was our wedding anniversary today. Marked initially by Mike's very strange dream. I have since been wracking my brain to see if at any time I knew a woman with long dark and central parting and one front tooth missing. Apparently in his dream, Mike and I were sitting on a bench type seat in a restaurant with our backs to the wall. The woman walks in and says  'Hilary and Mike Shearing how are you?' We look blank and she continues, 'We met at...' Then there's a noise, so neither of us hear where this was. Next she introduces us to her Russian friends - a group of women of a certain age. One has a strappy type dress on, with tattoos all over her shoulders. At this point he woke up. So unless part two of the dream continues tonight, we'll never find out the end of the story.

Louvre: Photo from Garden of Eaden

Rather damp day today, so adjustment of plans. We bought a couple of Paris Passes which we'd ordered on line and picked up Monday afternoon when we arrived. They are available for 2, 4 or 6 days. We bought a four day which began today. They are extremely useful. As well as giving us free admission to all sorts of museums, you by-pass queues and the price includes a metro ticket. We went straight to the Louvre. We've walked around the outside a number of times but not visited any of the rooms and exhibitions as we've never had enough time. It is a huge place. This time we decided to go up to the first floor and visit the Middle Ages display. Wonderful. Just loved the way contemporary design had blended in with the historic parts of the building. A perfect mix which gives the Louvre a totally new life. So architecturally the inside is as interesting as the outside. Then there were the exhibits. A truly fabulous collection. The sheer skill of the craftsmen of that period is quite extraordinary. Being London based for so long, we've been spoilt by the range and quality of museums there. The Louvre was so impressive. Loved it. By the time we left which was around 12.30 the queues were staggering. People were waiting for an hour to get in.

Next stop the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. There were a number of exhibitions here that we wanted to see, including some gorgeous contemporary jewellery and a superb collection of Chanel dresses, accompanied by the video of the fashion show where they were first presented.

Pont des Arts: Veronique Phitoussi

 From there we walked across the Pont des Arts, which now has thousands of 'love locks' fixed to it. Quite a few cities have them apparently, but the only one we've seen is here in Paris. For anyone who doesn't know about it, couples write their names on a padlock, lock it on to the bridge and throw the key away, representing eternal love.  There is another bridge in Paris with locks, but we've not seen it as yet: the Pont de l'Archevêché.

What we were on our way to was the Magnum Photography Gallery. A small place with three small exhibitions: Bad Weather by British Photographer Martin Parr. We first came across his work in the Tramshed in Bristol. Home Town by French Photographer Antoine D'Agata and Japan - can't find a link to this one, but the link I have found ties him in with the Paris Fashion show. Magnum Photographers are regarded amongst the best in the world. A reputation which is carefully guarded by the admission process.

Teeming down with rain we headed back to the apartment, late afternoon, and found that someone had delivered a complimentary box from the Boutique des Saveurs, where we went on Monday evening for an apéro. It's just next door. We think that the Boutique and our apartment are linked together as we were encouraged to go when we first arrived. So we did. Anyway inside the box was a lovely jar of rillettes and a bottle of red wine - French. All looks pretty tasty. We were going to stay in tomorrow night and have something to eat in the apartment. With so many interesting food outlets nearby, it would be a pity not to try some of them. The arrival of the box will get us off to a good start.