Ice Maidens (in bronze)

In Paris I have found a love for city life, and this includes its public transport. In the snow, le métro was a godsend...my holey non waterproofed pistol boots less so. Accompagnied by a mild hangover thanks to too much vin rouge, a late night booze run to Monoprix and an hour or two more's experience of the frosty hostility French nightclubs have to offer (Papillon pulled out of the hat as weekend's dead venue of choice), the lovely Rachel and I made it to the Musée d'Orsay, and to the last few hours of its heralded L'impressionisme et la mode exhibition. And it was excellent, if rammed. Guess that will teach me for waiting to go until the last day when it's been on display since September.

I always go a bit crazy in the d'Orsay, from tiring companions with not quite the same adoration for its collections...to overspending on great Impressionism souvenirs (bookmarks, postcards, coasters, pens...20 euros what?!)... to taking endless and pretty much identical pictures of its exterior.

I finally looked up what these beautiful statues (at my most basic level I liked the fact they were all powerful looking women) are allegories for. The Six Continents (although my camera lens is only wide enough for 4). Now grandly adorning the esplanade of the Museum, it turns out these sculptures lay in a public rubbish dump in Nantes until 1963. Lucky someone had a keen eye eh.