Saturday, August 30

This morning, the alarm did not ring until 8:30. Even with a solid 8 hours of sleep, the constant activity of the past two days finally caught up to me. I was exhausted, and the thought of staying in bed even longer was tantalizing. However, we wanted to make our next museum appearance at 9:30 across the river, so we begrudgingly got out of bed to prepare for the day. We were not moving very quickly, so by the time we left the hotel, it was already past 9 am. With no time to really sit down for a proper breakfast, we ducked into the Saint-Lazare Starbucks for a “to-go” breakfast. (I know, I know….but we were going for efficiency- not quality at this point). With a few croissants in hand and some much-needed caffeinated beverages, we headed down into the Saint-Lazare metro.

We made a bee-line towards Metro Line 12 and finished our croissants as we waited for the next train. Comparatively, the croissants from Boulangerie Kayer are just in a completely different league than the ones from Starbucks- big surprise, right? When the train arrived, we hopped on and headed towards the river. At the third stop, Assemblée Nationale, we resurfaced. After a short walk, we found the plaza for the Musée d’Orsay. There were three different lines, and we joined the line that was for those already with a ticket (museum pass for us). We waited about two minutes until the museum officially opened, and then we were through security in a flash.

The museum itself was an architectural delight. The building once housed a train station, and its early roots were easily seen. It was a long, rectangular building that was very open and uncluttered. The art wings lined the outer walls and could be viewed on three different main levels (0, 2, and 5). Sadly, no pictures were allowed in the museum, but I can appreciate why- the quality of art found there deserved the attention of eyes- not camera lenses.

We immediately set about covering the ground floor. Like the Louvre, we did not really plan out our exploration here very well. If I could have a do-over, I would have started at the top floor (5) and worked my way down. The ground floor was mostly paintings with a special temporary exhibit on art at the time of Napoleon. The second (middle) floor contained many Rodin sculptures, but it also housed treasures from the brushes of van Gogh and Gauguin. The van Gogh self-portraits and “La nuit étoilée” were especially noteworthy. It would be a good time to mention that even on a Saturday, there were not many people in the museum at this time. We were able to see all the paintings at our leisure without having to wait too long for others to move along.

We climbed the many stairs up to the fifth level where we entered the famous “Clock Room” which housed one of the two great clocks that look out over the Seine. You can take pictures here, so we admired the view of the city through the clock, took a few shots, and entered the gallery.  The fifth level (which was really the third main level) was where we found our favorites (other than the works of van Gogh). Megan is much more polished than I in the world of art, but we both share a favorite art movement-Impressionism. We were not disappointed on this floor! The most famous works of the world’s greatest Impressionists were all gathered here in this gallery. Degas, Manet, Cézanne, Pissarro, Renoir, Sisley, and of course Monet were all well-represented. The great works were too numerous to mention, but I believe Megan’s favorite was “Danseuses bleues” by Degas. I couldn’t really choose any one favorite, but my two favorite artists of the bunch were Sisley and Monet.

It took us two hours to see the whole museum (moving briskly on Levels 0 and 2- moving slowly on Level 5) We stopped by the gift shop on the way out to buy some fun souvenir books that suited my level of French (A Monet-themed “find the frog” book and a neat illustrated “I Spy?”-type with many famous sights of Paris)…yeah I know, I’m still a kid at heart.

Up until this point of the trip, we had really neglected the Left Bank area of Paris (with the exception of the Eiffel Tower). Today, we planned to do some exploration on that side of the river. We walked through the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood which was a treat for the eyes. The narrow streets wound their way by the beautiful buildings that housed small shops on the ground floor and apartments above. Unfortunately, since it was Saturday, all these shops were closed, and the side streets we walked along were eerily empty. When we made it to Rue de Seine, it seemed that we had found where everybody went! Immediately there was a bustle of activity as many people walked towards their lunch destinations. Ours was Cosi, a gourmet sandwich shop that opened exactly at 12. (I know because we arrived at 11:58, and the restaurant was not accepting any customers). We took a quick tour around the block and joined the fast-forming queue at Cosi. Here, you place your order and they quickly make it for you on the spot. (Note: the prices were very reasonable here.) From there, you can take your meal upstairs to eat. We sat down by a window, and took our first bites of what proved to be an excellent lunch.

After about 45 minutes, we turned south onto Rue de Seine, crossed over Boulevard Saint-Germain, and continued until we reached the Luxembourg Gardens.  We entered by the Palais du Luxembourg which is the home of the French Sénat. (This explained why there were so many uniformed guards about with assault rifles!) We continued on and soon found ourselves in the middle of a huge park with all kinds of water features, flowers, and statues.

Sorry for not having many pictures so far! Here are some to tide you over 🙂

We walked around the entirety of the gardens to get the lay of the land. We did not realize that the gardens were so large!  There were many different “environments” in the gardens as well: Shaded trails, open lawns, giant fountains, sport facilities of all kinds, intricate flower beds, and even an art fair! We found two of the “green metal chairs” (remember them from the Tuileries Gardens?) near one of the lawns close to the main fountain pool. Time to relax! We spent a while just enjoying the day along with all the others that came to the beautiful gardens to enjoy their week-end. The weather had reverted to being mostly cloudy, so glimpses of the sun were fairly rare. However, that did not seem to deter anyone. We read our “find the frog” book while children guided their sailboats on the fountain pool nearby. All-in-all, it was a fantastic and leisurely way to spend an early afternoon.

After a time, we left the gardens and walked in the direction of the Latin Quarter and the Sorbonne. We came across a museum that was on our list-the Musée National du Moyen Age. The garden around the outside of the museum was very nice (the museum’s exterior architecture was really interesting, as well!), but we did not stay very long. Instead we searched for the entrance which we found on the opposite side of the building from the garden. We showed our museum passes and walked in.

The museum held a fascinating collection of items linked to the Middle Ages. There were many religious artifacts, sculptures, paintings, stained glass, weapons, and armor on display.

The Middle Ages were not the only time period represented in this museum. The museum itself was built on the site of the Roman baths from the early city Lutèce- also known as Luticia. (See the “Day 3” blog post for information about where to view more Lutèce ruins beneath Notre Dame). These baths were still intact- in fact, we could even walk down into the basin.

My favorite part of the museum was the famed tapestry, “The Lady and the Unicorn.” The room in which this tapestry and its 5 compatriots were housed gave an almost reverent air to the place. Each tapestry represented one of the five senses, with the 6th most likely representing “love” or “heart.”

Overall, the museum was very interesting (especially to a history buff like me!), and I would definitely recommend a visit.

We went outside and continued to meander through the Latin Quarter. As we passed through Square René Viviani, we once again saw Notre Dame across the river on Ile de la Cité. From here, we arrived at a shop that I very much wanted to visit- the iconic bookstore Shakespeare & Company. I love bookstores, and I have been to some really interesting ones (Malaprop’s in Asheville, NC is awesome), but this was the most unique that I have seen. Books were displayed everywhere throughout the tiny rooms in the store. It was nearly impossible to move through the narrow corridors with all the people there. There was even a “reading room” library up a set of creaky old stair. It was just a fascinating place that any fan of books should see! I had my heart set on purchasing something by Hemingway since Paris was such a great inspiration to him, so after a bit of searching, I found a copy of “The Sun Also Rises” to take home with me. Megan bought a Shakespeare & Company book/tote bag, too.

Feeling satisfied with our purchases, we took a stroll down the Rue Saint Severin- a very “touristified” street with many restaurants. It was a very interesting place to people-watch. We were craving something sweet, so we stopped in at the Amorino shop for some Gelato/Sorbet. Amorino deserves its good reviews- it was great! I chose four different flavors which were then brilliantly arranged on the cone.

At this point, we had covered all that we wanted to see that day (at least until dinner)- and it was only 4 in the afternoon! We decided to return to the Saint-Lazare area and take a look around the famed department stores Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. I didn’t care much for the shopping- indoors! -in a mall! -in Paris! But I figured that I owed it to Megan to let her have her turn since she was such a good sport about the many, many museums that we had recently visited.  I was more interested in the architecture of the buildings. They were incredibly elaborate and larger than I thought they would be. We spent a few hours shopping around the various stores before deciding to return to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. When we stepped outside, we noticed that the sky was completely overcast and darkening. Was rain on the way?

While at the hotel, we watched some French television-which was fascinating to me. Most of what we saw were french re-dubs of English-language shows, but some channels also had original French programming. We mostly watched the French takes on game shows such as “Mot de Passe” (Password/Pyramid) which I followed surprisingly well. It was really nice to relax at the hotel. I couldn’t stop feeling that I was missing out on something, but in light of all the walking we had done on the trip, it was worth it- we were exhausted.

At 7:30, we left the hotel to make it to our 8:00 dinner reservations. After a 30 minute walk along Rue Saint-Lazare and Rue Lamartine, we arrived at our destination: La Prairie du Petit Resto. We had high hopes for this restaurant, and on first look, it seemed like a good choice. The restaurant was very well-decorated in an interesting “Prairie” style, and there were many people already there. We were brought over to our table which was unfortunately towards the back of the restaurant in an odd room that was encased in glass. We were the only ones in that room despite there being other tables in the restaurant, and it caused us to echo when we talked. We would later be joined by other groups, but only when the other tables were all filled in the regular restaurant area. Oh well- we shrugged it off and ordered wine and an appetizer (read: entrée in France) The service up to that point was just fine.  We placed our order and received our food fairly promptly. The restaurant was not serving their veal dish that evening, so I tried my hand at a gourmet cheeseburger (yeah, yeah I know…I’m picky, ok?). Megan had the chicken dish. I should have warned her that the chicken would probably be dark meat, but I didn’t….so it was not that appealing. The cheeseburger was pretty good, though.

It was here that things got a bit strange. As more people entered the glass room in the back, a different waiter took over our area.  We were not sure of the protocol because the new waiter never so much as glanced at us. We wanted to get dessert, so we waited, and waited, and waited for our waiter to come by. He never stopped by again, so we just asked the other waiter who we had not even talked to that evening for the check.

Overall, the meal was a bit of a downer. It didn’t help that it randomly rained on us as we walked back to the hotel (Yeah, I lied in the “Day 2” post- it did rain again on the trip…but this would be the last time- I promise!) To escape from the rain, we stopped at a little store that was still open at 10:30 pm. We needed supplies for our plans for the next day, so we bought some chocolates, cheese, and a few small bottles of wine. We ventured out into the rain again where we were randomly involved in our first and only run-in with the “ring scam.” It took me completely off guard because we were not really in a tourist area. A man tried to get my attention by yelling “Monsieur, look!” When I did not look and continued on walking, he yelled after me “But its yours, its yours!” I assumed that he was following the standard ring scam playbook: Offering me a gold ring that he “found”…and then if I took it, he would harass me for money as a “reward.” When I looked back, he was after somebody else with the same scam.

We made it back to the hotel around 11pm. Despite some hiccups at the end of the day, it was great overall. Our slower pace allowed us to soak in the city at our leisure, and even better, it helped us recover our depleted energy reserves.  At this point, we had seen and experienced most of our list for Paris itself. It was time to branch out and explore a different side of France. In the morning, we would be heading northeast.