Skipped All the Way to Thursday...
Tuesday and Wednesday will be filled in later but I have to show you a bit about today...
What a glorious day...it all began with a walk past our favourite little cafe/patisserie where the tarts and breads were out for sale. This takes 'window licking' to new heights!!!
And it ended with 4 very sore and tired feet...
But in between we had another glorious day...our museum pass was up tonight so we wanted to get full benefit from those passes. We have been able to visit The Louvre twice (not enough), Musee d'Orsay, and Musee de l'Orangerie. The Garnier Opera House was on the ticket too; twice we scampered up there and twice we were turned away. Once we were too late in the day (4:30 pm) and today there was a rehersal happening for Figaro so we were not allowed in. They say if we come back tomorrow by 10 am we probably will be let in.
Well, after today Musee de l'Orangerie is now the favourite. It houses the large murals of the waterlilies by Monet and a number of other impressionists. Tomorrow we hope to see Chagall up at the Pompideau.
If any of you have a map of Paris you can follow our day. We started at Rue Clement, traveled up Rue de Seine, over the Seine to the Louvre where we tramped all over 2nd floor and the gift shop, going out the north end up Rue l'Opera to the Opera House to the Tuleries Gardens, Musee de l'Orangerie and back to our place on little old Rue Clement. That came to just under 5 miles and 13,000 steps for those who are counting!
This is no Ritz but it is a great little spot to call home for a few days. We are very central to all we want to see. We have walked everywhere most days. Except on Tuesday and Wednesday we bought on the on-and-off bus ticket and had a number of tours all over the city. When I finish off those days you will see what we saw.
Tomorrow is Marilyn's 2nd last day so we will try to pack it full of last minute things. We still have not gone to the top of the Eiffel Tower or seen the ceiling of the Opera House or climbed the hill to Sacre Coeur or done the food/kitchen street down in the Latin Quarter. But we will do what we can on Friday with Versailles on Sabbath.
We were going to try for the Bon Marche tonight but only the spirit is willing.
Today at the Musee de l'Orangerie we saw the most amazing art. It was the kind of work that warms the soul and causes tears to form.
Van Gogh was great at the d'Orsay on Tuesday, too. The most amazing thing to both of us is the fact that here we are standing within a foot of original paintings that these men produced. Of course, knowing my eyes, you know that I lean right in to look at the details on some. I have new appreciation of Cezanne and Renoir. Monet and Manet get lots of press and they are good but there are others who are great too.
Saw a group of Catholic school boys taking a tour at The Louvre...the photo came out very underexposed but when I made it black and white it was fine.
We saw Northern European Art first thing today at The Louvre. I think I have to go to Amsterdam to see the piece of Dutch art that I am longing to see again. They had nothing here from that era of art from our friends from Holland.
A view of The Tower from Tuleries Gardens...
And a view of The Louvre from the gardens...
The pond where little children come to sail boats in the gardens...
And crowds enjoying the lovely warm afternoon.
You can actually see the Arc de Triomphe way down the end (in the middle of the photo) of Champs Elysees.
Now we are going to take a wee rest before we go for dinner. They don't serve dinner until 7 pm. But we have found really good French food very close by so we don't have a long walk home in the dark.
Someone asked what made our first supper by Notre Dame so memorably 'bad'...well, I would have to say it appeared to be beige. Everything on the plate was the same colour, served unattractively and very bland. We should have known better and just had a drink and moved on to greener pastures but we are quick learners and won't get caught like that again.
So, that is a brief look at our day...Thursday, April 14. Love to you all.
What a glorious day...it all began with a walk past our favourite little cafe/patisserie where the tarts and breads were out for sale. This takes 'window licking' to new heights!!!
And it ended with 4 very sore and tired feet...
But in between we had another glorious day...our museum pass was up tonight so we wanted to get full benefit from those passes. We have been able to visit The Louvre twice (not enough), Musee d'Orsay, and Musee de l'Orangerie. The Garnier Opera House was on the ticket too; twice we scampered up there and twice we were turned away. Once we were too late in the day (4:30 pm) and today there was a rehersal happening for Figaro so we were not allowed in. They say if we come back tomorrow by 10 am we probably will be let in.
Well, after today Musee de l'Orangerie is now the favourite. It houses the large murals of the waterlilies by Monet and a number of other impressionists. Tomorrow we hope to see Chagall up at the Pompideau.
If any of you have a map of Paris you can follow our day. We started at Rue Clement, traveled up Rue de Seine, over the Seine to the Louvre where we tramped all over 2nd floor and the gift shop, going out the north end up Rue l'Opera to the Opera House to the Tuleries Gardens, Musee de l'Orangerie and back to our place on little old Rue Clement. That came to just under 5 miles and 13,000 steps for those who are counting!
This is no Ritz but it is a great little spot to call home for a few days. We are very central to all we want to see. We have walked everywhere most days. Except on Tuesday and Wednesday we bought on the on-and-off bus ticket and had a number of tours all over the city. When I finish off those days you will see what we saw.
Tomorrow is Marilyn's 2nd last day so we will try to pack it full of last minute things. We still have not gone to the top of the Eiffel Tower or seen the ceiling of the Opera House or climbed the hill to Sacre Coeur or done the food/kitchen street down in the Latin Quarter. But we will do what we can on Friday with Versailles on Sabbath.
We were going to try for the Bon Marche tonight but only the spirit is willing.
Today at the Musee de l'Orangerie we saw the most amazing art. It was the kind of work that warms the soul and causes tears to form.
Van Gogh was great at the d'Orsay on Tuesday, too. The most amazing thing to both of us is the fact that here we are standing within a foot of original paintings that these men produced. Of course, knowing my eyes, you know that I lean right in to look at the details on some. I have new appreciation of Cezanne and Renoir. Monet and Manet get lots of press and they are good but there are others who are great too.
Saw a group of Catholic school boys taking a tour at The Louvre...the photo came out very underexposed but when I made it black and white it was fine.
We saw Northern European Art first thing today at The Louvre. I think I have to go to Amsterdam to see the piece of Dutch art that I am longing to see again. They had nothing here from that era of art from our friends from Holland.
A view of The Tower from Tuleries Gardens...
And a view of The Louvre from the gardens...
The pond where little children come to sail boats in the gardens...
And crowds enjoying the lovely warm afternoon.
You can actually see the Arc de Triomphe way down the end (in the middle of the photo) of Champs Elysees.
Now we are going to take a wee rest before we go for dinner. They don't serve dinner until 7 pm. But we have found really good French food very close by so we don't have a long walk home in the dark.
Someone asked what made our first supper by Notre Dame so memorably 'bad'...well, I would have to say it appeared to be beige. Everything on the plate was the same colour, served unattractively and very bland. We should have known better and just had a drink and moved on to greener pastures but we are quick learners and won't get caught like that again.
So, that is a brief look at our day...Thursday, April 14. Love to you all.
Oh those poor little toes! Yowsah! I hope you put them up and chilled tonight. Sounds like you two are on the all-art-all-the-time tour, just up your alley. Sweet!
ReplyDeletexoxo
I love the last supper piece. And what a colourful photo of the boys sailing their boats. You will no doubt need a week once you get home before you will be able to do much serious work... but enjoy every minute while you can. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures that didn't make it to this blog. No doubt some gems there as well.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the blog very much. It brings back memories of when I was there many years ago.
ReplyDeleteLovely photos! But oh...those poor little feet!
ReplyDelete