I am living in Paris much of the time. Travelling on the deepest rail network (the RER) from the airports and outskirts of the city you see an eruption of rioting just waiting to recur. But above ground this is still a city of lotus-eaters.

Being here means enjoying the opportunity of repeat visits to sites which cannot be appreciated in a single visit. At the top is the Louvre. Like the Prado in Madrid it is just too big to take in on one trip. So I chop up the museum into sections. Last week I focused on the Poussin and Rembrandt rooms. They are so packed with treasures that many of the paintings are all but lost in the stacking from floor to ceiling. But most of the best are still at eye-level. They include the Poussin I looked forward to seeing most and found most moving. That beautiful rustic scene at a tomb, the wiping away of dust and an inscription still legible: Et in Arcadia Ego.