Paroissien’s in Paris

Our impressions:   
     there is a lot of water surrounding this city
     there are many many islands making up the country - about 24 000 give or take a couple of rocks
     it is a very old city - think The Vikings
     it has a population of 9 million and a high standard of living with a welfare centre system;  however they
         do have a GST of 25% - which makes for a high cost of living;
     there are numerous castles and palaces and a huge number of museums - about 70 apparently, and of the
         few we have visited, they are an excellent standard
    
Our favourites in this city:
      The old city of Gamla Stan - narrow, cobbled streets and alleyways - with one ’street’ being only 900 mm wide, and about 100 steps;

The Vasa Museum - this represents the story of the Viking warship, built 330 years ago, pride of the Swedish fleet, which sank about 1.2 kms from its launch on its maiden voyage - and was only salvaged aout 30 years ago.   It was bought to the surface, having survived its time under the water because this part of the sea is less salty and the worms which would have eaten the wood, do not flourish here.    So after 21 painstaking years, it has been totally reconstructed and is splendidly adored with hundreds of carved sculptures.  
It is the most amazing museum - giving an indication of life in Sweden in the 1600’s and a credit to all those involved in the project.

We also went to the Museum of Cultural History - this is in a most beautiful palace and has exhibits on table settings, furniture, shoes and fashion - also a great museum and one we could have spent more time at.

Another special museum was that of the Nobel Prize - which houses photos, memorabilia and the names of all recipients.    And an ‘interesting’ fact:

As you are probably aware, the Nobel Prizes are presented each December for Science, Economics, Medicine, etc.
But, did you know that the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo - this was apparently a stipulation in Alfred Nobel’s Will - and at the time he died, in 1896, Sweden and Norway were one country - Norway only gained its Independence in 1905.

Back to Paris tomorrow - Julie has been looking after our apartment and is promising us dinner will be ready - after 2 weeks away we are lookking forward to a home cooked meal.

More later
Barb

Our impressions: