The Centre Georges-Pompidou houses the Musée National D'Art Moderne. The air ducts, pipes, elevators and escalators were placed on the exterior of the building during a renovation in the late 1970s. The blue ducts are air-conditioning, the green for water, yellow for electricity, and red for escalators and elevators. The plaza outside the museum is filled with water works sculptures.
I walked to the Opéra Garnier, noting more monuments along the way. The Opéra Garnier mostly features ballet now, with opera mostly staged at the Opéra de Paris-Bastille. This building epitomizes Napoleon III style: ridiculously extravagant.
The Louvre Museum was originally constructed as a fortress to protect the city. It was the royal residence for 600 years, with each king or emperor expanding and renovating. I.M. Pei built the famous pyramid in 1989. It forms one of the entrances to the museum. The Lourve is always packed. Many people are eager to take photos of the museum's most famous resident: the Mona Lisa. The grounds around the Lourve are evidence of its history as a fortress.
Paris street scenes. Last Thursday, Paris held a music festival featuring dozens of street performances. This band, near my hotel, played a brass version of Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit." The crowd loved it.
