The Whouvre?

Well it's a good question. Why, if we've just walked into the Musee d'Orsay, have we got a picture of the Louvre? Well that's because on walking up to the reception desk in the Musee d'Orsay and proffering our booking reference, we were told that even though we'd taken the trouble to book in advance of our visit in order to streamline the whole process, we would have to collect tickets from a Ticketnet outlet before entering the museum. That's OK, you'd think, they're bound to have such at desk at the museum. Erm, no, for that you have to go to the Virgin Megastore in the basement of The Louvre.

So, after explaining clearly to the reception staff that for the last fifty years a radical concept called 'customer service' was catching on like wildfire outside of the third world, I set off to the Louvre, leaving ma familie to sweat outside the d'Orsay.

Not so bad, you might think, it's only across the river. True, but the heat, the pedestrian congestion and the staggering of the traffic lights, made it a good 25 minutes yomp. Anyway, at last I found myself at the cash-desk in the Virgin Megastore only to be told that their computer was down and I couldn't collect my tickets there. Instead, I'd have to ride the Metro to the Virgin Megastore at the far end of the Champs Elysees.

Time to check in with Lisa. I received orders to return to base, whilst she augmented my treatise on the finer points of customer management with the comptroller at the d'Orsay. When I eventually got back, she'd had to buy more tickets!! Fortunately at a reduced rate.

Tired little ones at this rate, so our visit to the Musee d'Orsay was a tad more whistlestop than we'd have liked...