Musee d'Orsay - Paris, Day 9, Part 1

On our ninth day in Paris we were able to visit two amazing museums - the Musee d'Orsay and Musee de l'Orangerie. These were probably my favorite museums from the entire trip. I took over 600 pictures that day so I decided it would best to break this into two posts - one primarily from the Orsay and the other from the Orangerie.

Late Friday morning we took the metro from La Defense to the Tuileries stop and walked through the Jardin des Tuileries, across the Seine to the Musee d'Orsay.

Jardin des Tuileries

Jardin des Tuileries

Seagulls in Paris, ready and waiting for their photo shoot

We grabbed a light lunch at the museum cafe and then were off to explore. Les decided to go our own directions that day. He prefers using the museum's audio guide and I opted to read the Orsay tour in my Rick Steves book. Below are a few of my favorite from the day:

Alexandre Cabanel - The Birth of Venus

Jean-Francois Millet - Le parc a moutons, clair de lune

Claude Monet - Coquelicots

Jean Béraud - L'attente

Looking out of the Musee d'Orsay's clock - you can see Sacre Coeur Basilica in the background

Edgar Degas - Danseuses bleues

Edgar Degas - The Dance Class

Edgar Degas - In a Cafe or The Glass of Absinthe

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - La liseuse

Alfred Sisley - La neige a Louveciennes

Alfred Sisley - La barque pendant l'inondation Port-Marly

Pierre-Auguste Renoir - Dance at the Moulin de la Galette

Claude Monet - Essai de figure en plein air dit Femme a l'ombrelle tournee vers la gauche

Vincent van Gogh - Fritillaires couronne imperiale dans un vase de cuivre

Vincent van Gogh - La nuit etoilee, Arles

Peeking out a window, a beautiful view of Paris

Edgar Degas - Danseuse assise

Eugene Jansoson - Logement proletaire

We could have spent a bit more time at the Orsay but we were planning on meeting Mindy to go to the Orangerie before she had to go to work. We quickly walked back over the river to meet her. On the way I snapped a few shots - here is one of the better ones:

Looking across the river at the Louvre

When we met Mindy we found out that they weren't going to let her in with her Violin. She had it in a backpack-style case and apparently it was too big or something. We were bummed but decided instead to grab a coffee. While we were there we decided it was time to get a couple pictures of us! Even though we had been staying with them for nearly a week we hadn't taken any pictures of us together.

Mindy and I

About an hour later Mindy had to leave for work and Les and I walked back toward the Orangerie. Here are a few pictures I took along the way...it was a beautiful evening.

More on the Musee de l'Orangerie in a bit...

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Now playing: A Fine Frenzy - You Picked Me
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Thanksgiving - Paris, Day 8

We decided to start Thanksgiving day with a visit to the Eiffel Tower. We took the metro to second closest station (the nearest was closed) and then followed glimpses of the tower between buildings and made our way to the Parc du Chap de Mars.

Eiffel Tower from Parc du Champ de Mars

Getting Closer

We stood in the long line for the elevator to the top, but lucky for us it moved pretty fast. It only took maybe 40 minutes to stand in line, buy tickets, and wait in line again for the elevator. The elevator ride would have been fun, but they pack people in like sardines. At least we were squished up next to the window and were able to enjoy the view.

Les and I at the to of the Eiffel Tower

The view from the top is spectacular. I took a ton of pictures but it is hard to recognize the landmarks from so far away. I didn't have my telephoto lens with me.

Looking down on the Arc de Triomphe from the Eiffel Tower
It doesn't look too far away, does it? That is what my mom and I thought seven years ago on my first trip to Paris. We walked...and walked, and walked. The Eiffel Tower has a way of distorting distances. You see it and you think its not that far away and you walk and walk...Les and I did the same thing a few times on this trip.

Me on the Second Level

Looking up after our descent

Our next stop was the Musee d'Orsay. Thursday is their late closing night so we thought we had plenty of time.

A "green" building
It was literally covered with plants!

Another shot of the "green" building
I was mesmerized!

During our walk we came upon a chocolate shop with some amazing chocolate sculptures.

A Chocolate Superbike

A Chocolate Dremel Multi-tool

A Chocolate Hermes Handbag

We reached the Musee d'Orsay shortly after 5PM. The published closing time for Thursdays is 9PM. Much to our dismay the museum closed early because of the transit strikes - at 4:30! This time I was mad! A lot of other people were unhappy too. One lady was even taking pictures of the early closing signs. Maybe planning on lodging a complaint somewhere? Who knows.

We didn't know what to do next. We decided that Crepes were the answer. We found a nearby cafe and warmed up with some yummy food, tea and coffee. We ended up talking to another American couple for probably close to an hour. Nice people from Florida.

The cafe was closing so we left... still unsure of where to go next. Mindy and Arnaud both had to work in the evening so we weren't planning on having Thanksgiving dinner until late.

We grudgingly got back on the metro and headed toward La Defense. We decided to get off the metro in the middle of the Champs Elysees and walk to the Arc de Triomphe. The metro was warm, packed, and uncomfortable that night.

We admired a few of the shops and took a few pictures of the Arc before crossing to the middle of the roundabout via the underground tunnel.

Arc de Triomphe

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (from World War I) under the Arc de Triomphe

After we'd finished admiring the Arc de Triomphe we were ready to go back to Mindy and Arnaud's. We contemplated getting on the metro but decided to be lazy and take a taxi. So much faster and easier! When we arrived at the apartment Mindy had already prepared most of our Thanksgiving feast. All we had to do was wait for the chicken (yes, we had a Thanksgiving chicken, turkeys in France are super expensive) to finish cooking and for Arnaud to get home.

Pretty table ready for a feast

I think it was around 9PM when Arnaud got home and we sat down to eat. As Arnaud cut the chicken he realized that it was still too pink. The chicken went back in the oven and we filled up on all of the side dishes - mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, etc. By the time the chicken was finished I couldn't eat more than a few bites! Dinner was delicious and we were stuffed. We put away the food and left the dishes for the next morning and crawled into bed exhausted.

I'm thankful that we got to spend Thanksgiving with friends, travel to Paris, have the opportunity to live overseas, and are blessed with a loving family and great friends all over the world.

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Now playing: Norah Jones - Shoot The Moon
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Relaxing and Remembering - Paris, Days 6 & 7

Our sixth day in Paris was relaxing. Mindy, Les and I walked down to La Defense and spent a few hours trying to find new shoes for my hubbie at the mall. He brought two pairs of shoes on vacation - one casual, one dressy. His dressy shoes bit the dust after our anniversary night out. I guess it was time. He'd only had them since before we started dating! I think they lived a good life. His other shoes were hurting his feet. Uncomfortable feet = unhappy traveler so we went to several different shoe stores until we found the right pair.

Just to make sure they were the ones we went and had some lunch before we made the purchase. Mindy took us to a very good restaurant. She and I shared some curry and fancy, very rich grilled cheese sandwiches filled with some sort of blue cheese. YUM! After lunch we decided to grab a coffee at Starbucks, which happened to be just two doors down. We found a table and just sat and chatted for at least an hour. It was so nice! Mindy and I used to do that a lot when we were teenagers - find a coffee shop, get a good caffeine buzz and talk for hours. It was like I was back home in SLO. Poor Les had to sit and endure all the girl talk. :) He was a good sport!

Completely stuffed we returned to the shoe store and Les bought his new shoes. We meandered around few more shops before heading back to Mindy and Arnaud's house.

The next day we made our way to Pere Lachaise Cemetary. We caught a train from La Defense and were on our way.

The modern arch at La Defense

We found the cemetery easily and decided to grab some lunch before we entered. The restaurant we finally agreed upon happened to be close to the entrance recommended by our Rick Steves book . Well fed, we began our tour.

A very moving sculpture of a boy and his dog.

Oscar Wilde's Tomb

"The Widowers"
I don't know if these gentlemen were actually widowers, but it seems like an appropriate title for a picture of four men in dark coats walking in the cemetery.

Jim Morrison's Grave

Frederic Chopin's Grave
Seeing Chopin's grave was very moving. It kind of caught me off guard. He is one of my favorite composers and I love playing his pieces on the piano.

Moon Rising over Pere Lachaise Cemetery

We spent several hours meandering around the cemetery. It was much larger than we expected. Thankfully we followed Rick Steves' tour in his Paris 2008 book which helped us find many of the famous graves.

We had intended to visit the Picasso Museum after leaving the cemetery but it was too late. We doubted that we could get there before they closed. We decided to go to the Musee de l'Orangerie instead because they stayed open later.

As we arrived at the museum we were told they were closing early because of the transit strikes! We were bummed, but several other tourists were downright angry. One lady had purchased a museum pass and that was her last day to use it. Unfortunately the early closings made it difficult for her (and others) to get the expected value from the pass.

When everything closes early there isn't much to do except eat and shop. As I mentioned before our suitcases were small so we were limited on our shopping and Mindy is a great cook and she cooked for us most evenings we stayed with them so there was no reason to eat out. Even though it was relatively early in the evening we decided to head back to the apartment and relax for the rest of the evening.

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Now playing: Dave Brubeck - Nostalgia De Mexico
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The Louvre is MASSIVE! - Paris, Day 5

I think I have time to do one more blog post today, then I need to get going. Today is going to be busy. I have errands to run this afternoon and then tonight I am going with Kathy to Caltagirone for some Christmas shopping. Should be fun!

We decided to use our fifth day in Paris to try and conquer the Louvre.

Me in front of one of the Louvre's glass pyramids.

The Louvre, fountains, and pyramids

Just figuring out where the entrance was, going through security, checking our backpack, buying tickets, and finding restrooms was exhausting. We decided that we needed to stop at the Starbucks inside the underground mall next to the museum before we started into the exhibits.

Fully caffeinated and refreshed we started by exploring some of the temporary exhibits. Although the museum as a whole allows photography (without flash) many of the temporary exhibits do not allow pictures. As we moved through the museum we saw several famous pieces.

Venus de Milo (Aphrodite, c. 100 B.C.)

Peeking out one of the Louvre's windows we caught this spectacular view of the Seine and Notre Dame

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506)

Over the years many people have said that the Mona Lisa is a bit disappointing. Usually because it is much smaller than they expected. Hearing this so many times, I didn't really have any expectations. I was impressed. Its not huge, but it isn't as small as I thought it might be. The only disappointment was that it is behind glass and then roped off about 6 feet around it so you can't get close. On top of all that there was a massive crowd around it. I was able to push my way to the front of the crowd and snap this picture. I would have enjoyed staring at her for awhile but there were too many people.

I didn't catch who the artist was on this one but I thought it was beautiful.

A beautiful sculpture, again I missed who the artist was but I loved it.

Looking up into the glass pyramid.

Missed the artist on this one too. What struck me about this was how real the pallbearers looked. Creepy.

It was starting to get dark by the time we finished in the Louvre. I'm sure we missed a lot but we had about as much as we could handle for one day. We decided to make one more stop before we continued on our way...Starbucks again!

Refueled, we set off towards the Ferris Wheel through the Jardin des Tuileries.

The Eiffel Tower from the Jardin des Tuileries

The Ferris Wheel and Eiffel Tower from Jardin des Tuileries

We paid the excruciating price of 8Euro to ride the Ferris Wheel but it was completely worth it. The view was awesome! And to make it even better the Eiffel Tower started its 10 minute hourly sparkle as we looked on. Beautiful! Romantic!

The ride was over too quick, but that is usually how those things go. We continued walking towards the Champs-Elysees and met up with Mindy in the Virgin Megastore. We walked a bit, enjoyed the shops, and went into the huge Sephora before catching the metro back to Mindy's house.

Another great day in Paris!

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Now playing: Mannheim Steamroller - Carol of the Bells
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