Who sets an alarm for vacation? I do! Hahaha
We had left the apartment by 7:30 am and were kind of walking towards the Musee D'Orsay, which opened at 9:30 and kinda searching for breakfast. Something French. Preferably made of flaky pastry and accompanied by espresso. Found it, ate it, loved it.
At 9:15 am we were 10th in line for tickets to the museum and excited to see works by the great masters. D'Orsay didn't disappoint and for hours we meandered 5 floors of sculpture and paintings, getting up close and personal with 19th and 20th century pieces by Van Gogh, Sisley, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir and Cezanne.
Both Mark and I commented on how nice it was to enjoy pastoral and family life themed art and both of us remembered all the gore and darkness of the priceless art that filled the museums in Barcelona last year. If you haven't experienced it for yourself, then you'll think I'm exaggerating when I say Jesus has been depicted as tortured and killed by more methods than you can imagine!
We found the Hop on, Hop off bus and bought tickets for today and tomorrow, then set about riding it to the Eiffel Tower, stopping only to feast on handmade pizza near the Trocadero.
The last time I was in Paris was about 20 years ago. I had seen the Eiffel Tower of course (who comes to Paris without at least seeing this icon?!) but at that time, my "guided tour" was limited by time and my experience was limited by my guided tour. I had not been up the Eiffel Tower so naturally, it was on the list of things to check off in Paris.
Wow!
And then, we hit Montmatre. I thought I remember it being crammed with outdoor artists, but apparently not today. Today it was crammed with "made in China" souvenirs and tourists with selfie sticks! How do you thin the tourists and remove the hawkers from your line of sight? You climb 300+ stairs at the Basilica to reach the Dome and revel in the view over all of Paris! The staircase is 2.5 feet wide, spiral shaped and made of smooth stone. There comes a point where your eyes are stuck looking left and you cannot remember what it feels like not to have mild vertigo, but it doesn't stop you reaching the top and spending 30 minutes snapping shots of all the entire city... The horizon is 60 miles away.
Did I mention we had stopped for coffee and a chocolate pastry before this climb, and followed it afterwards, with ice cream. We are definitely on vacation!
There was about an hour left in the day to shower and chill at "home" before we hit the town again. Beth and Bing were meeting us at the Bir-Hakeim bridge, where our Seine dinner cruise was leaving from and I was excited to be wearing my new blue cocktail dress. (Dressing all girly, with hair, make up and jewelry was going to be a distant memory once I started Camino.)
I'm not sure who's good idea it was to meet up and do this together, but a 3 course meal aboard a stunning river boat, taking in the lights of Paris, really is a spectacular way to end a day and get a new and beautiful perspective on the city.
Your final chance to "ooh" and "ahhh" at our day is here:
We had left the apartment by 7:30 am and were kind of walking towards the Musee D'Orsay, which opened at 9:30 and kinda searching for breakfast. Something French. Preferably made of flaky pastry and accompanied by espresso. Found it, ate it, loved it.
At 9:15 am we were 10th in line for tickets to the museum and excited to see works by the great masters. D'Orsay didn't disappoint and for hours we meandered 5 floors of sculpture and paintings, getting up close and personal with 19th and 20th century pieces by Van Gogh, Sisley, Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir and Cezanne.
Both Mark and I commented on how nice it was to enjoy pastoral and family life themed art and both of us remembered all the gore and darkness of the priceless art that filled the museums in Barcelona last year. If you haven't experienced it for yourself, then you'll think I'm exaggerating when I say Jesus has been depicted as tortured and killed by more methods than you can imagine!
We found the Hop on, Hop off bus and bought tickets for today and tomorrow, then set about riding it to the Eiffel Tower, stopping only to feast on handmade pizza near the Trocadero.
The last time I was in Paris was about 20 years ago. I had seen the Eiffel Tower of course (who comes to Paris without at least seeing this icon?!) but at that time, my "guided tour" was limited by time and my experience was limited by my guided tour. I had not been up the Eiffel Tower so naturally, it was on the list of things to check off in Paris.
Wow!
And then, we hit Montmatre. I thought I remember it being crammed with outdoor artists, but apparently not today. Today it was crammed with "made in China" souvenirs and tourists with selfie sticks! How do you thin the tourists and remove the hawkers from your line of sight? You climb 300+ stairs at the Basilica to reach the Dome and revel in the view over all of Paris! The staircase is 2.5 feet wide, spiral shaped and made of smooth stone. There comes a point where your eyes are stuck looking left and you cannot remember what it feels like not to have mild vertigo, but it doesn't stop you reaching the top and spending 30 minutes snapping shots of all the entire city... The horizon is 60 miles away.
Did I mention we had stopped for coffee and a chocolate pastry before this climb, and followed it afterwards, with ice cream. We are definitely on vacation!
There was about an hour left in the day to shower and chill at "home" before we hit the town again. Beth and Bing were meeting us at the Bir-Hakeim bridge, where our Seine dinner cruise was leaving from and I was excited to be wearing my new blue cocktail dress. (Dressing all girly, with hair, make up and jewelry was going to be a distant memory once I started Camino.)
I'm not sure who's good idea it was to meet up and do this together, but a 3 course meal aboard a stunning river boat, taking in the lights of Paris, really is a spectacular way to end a day and get a new and beautiful perspective on the city.
Your final chance to "ooh" and "ahhh" at our day is here:
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