The passages

We continued to walk down towards the Seine from Sacre Coeur. We were looking for a bunch of passages or arcades.

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They extend almost all the way down to the Louvre.

The major Australian cities have these but we call them arcades.

They are filled with the same sort of shops for those with money. 

Many of the shops in the Passage Verdeau were empty or closed for August so it wasn't all that great.

The entrance to the Passage Jouffroy.

A bookseller took up most of one side of the arcade.

The Chopin Hotel half way down the arcade. It was built at the same time as the arcade and is now a 'listed' property. The reviews indicate that it is pretty good for the money.

The floor.

The walking stick shop.

A lolly shop.

Next, the Passage Panoramus.

This arcade has wonderful tiling on the floor.

Marianne got excited about seeing these boxes which she had seen on some website. I managed to contain my enthusiasm.

This arcade is where you go if you are a stamp collector.

By now we were down to the Bourse or stock exchange.

I continue to marvel at many of the buildings here.

This chemist really liked their green flashing crosses.

Supposedly aboriginal art. Compared to what you see in Oz, not very good and you usually don't see straight lines in their art. What really constitutes real aboriginal art is no doubt a subject of debate but here are some examples.

A former arcade now turned into a hallway in a University. It was possibly the best of them all at one time.

Northern end of the Palais Royal which is basically a palace with a large square in the middle surrounded by collonades.

While Marianne rested on a seat, I wandered about.

When I took this photo I wondered if the light coming through the tops of the trees would turn out. Fortunately it did.

We had missed possibly the best of the Passages so we went back to find the Galerie Vivienne.

You need a fair pile of money to shop here.

We thought this solution for extra ventilation was interesting.

Marianne liked the scarf but not the prices.

We returned to the arcade down one side of the Palais Royal which featured probably the most ritzy of shops. We think these were perfume bottles.

At the south end there were some windows with Japanese art.

They were apparently hundreds of years old.

Finally, we arrived at the Louvre. Our feet were very tired so we found the Metro and returned home for a cold beer. I even had a nap.