Paris Day 6 & 7

Saturday started with meeting up with Mike (who we met from the Turkey trip earlier in the year). By coincidence he was staying at a hostel(called The Peace and Love) 150m from our apartment.
We started the day by catching the metro to the George Pompidou Centre. A modern building, built inside out, we went to the top and got a good view of Paris.(see photos).
Next, we wandered down towards Notre Dame, going pass a concert, where had some lunch. from here we walked along the Rive Gauche (left bank of The Seine) until the Musee d'Orsay.
We fulfilled our cultural obligations for the day by going inside, and we were careful not to confuse the Monets with the Manets. There were also some other famous works, including Whistler's Mother (a portrait in grey and black), Van Gogh's, Rodin sculptures, Renoir, etc... but after 2 to 3 hours we had all had enough!
From here we continued along the river passing the National Assembely, then across the bridge to the Grand Palais and Petit Palais. We crossed the Champs Elysees, checking if all was ready for the cycling tomorrow, and headed north. By accident we walked pass the French President's residence and through the richest part of Paris I think. We finally bumped into the Madeleine.
Here we caught the metro home as a beer around here was about 7 euro!
In the evening, we ate Indian food and had a few Kingfishers to wash it down. After that we decided to have a last drink at a corner cafe/bar - ended paying 7.20 euro (about $12) for a single beer!!!!
On Sunday, we met up with Mike and 2 other young Adelaide boys, Mark and Nathan, that shared Mike's hostel room. Mark and Nathan were two-thirds of the way through a fun-filled European vacation and were having the time of their lives. (I think partying was higher on the list than sight-seeing!)
We all had lunch on the lawns in front of The Hotel des Invalides, which for the young lads consisted of 4 or 5 cans of beer! Kept cold by packs of frozen vegies!
At about 3:00 pm we headed to the Champs Elysees to watch the cycling. It was packed! We picked a spot where you could see a big video screen, about 100 m from the finish, but it was limited viewing, lots of people brought their step ladders! The atmosphere was fantastic and a real buzz. The Caravanne of sponsors went by for an hour, but no freebies! Finally the cyclists arrived and flashed pass us 8 times up and down the Champs Elysees. We were about 50m behind the podium for the presentations. A great spectacle and enjoyable day.
After an early night, we headed to Berlin Monday morning.
More on that soon, au revoir. (I'm trying to upload photos daily - so keep an eye out!)