It is 5:00 in the evening and all of our feet could use deep massages. We started walking at 10:00 and have not stopped except for about 40 minutes to have lunch. It was a rude awakening to the Paris lifestyle of constant walking. First thing this morning we went to the Musee d'Orsay, stopping to get croissants and other pastries for breakfast. We did a quick tour of the museum, looking at the most famous paintings of the collection. It is a pain to visit this museum right now because it is under renovation. They have put all the paintings together on the first floor which means less space to move around in the big crowd. However, it is always nice to see Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas' original work, as well as my personal favorite- Bal du Moulin de la Galette by Renoir.
From there we took a long walk along the Seine to Notre Dame passing by the bouquinistes, the little green book sellers. It is hard to say which is more beautiful- the inside or the outside of the cathedral. The rose windows are just as amazing as the flying buttresses. We walked on la rive gauche to La Sorbonne and stopped for lunch nearby. In the afternoon we went to Beaubourg, the neighborhood of Paris with the Centre Pompidou and amusing fountains. Finally, we went to the Tuileries gardens to celebrate the Fete des Tuileries-basically an amusment park set up in the park. We rode the ferris wheel and the chairs that take you high up in the air and swing you around. Dizzy from that, we had an icee as we walked up towards the Place de la Concorde and along the Champs Elysees. Passing by the gardens at the beginning of the Champs, we heard strange music and followed it to find none other than the puppet theater from Charade. If you saw the movie you may remember that Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant meet there before they find the stamp market. Well it's all still there and the guy running the puppet theater looked as if he had been working there since the movie was filmed. A long, long walk later, we made it to the Arc de Triomphe and to our hotel to rest our feet. Tonight we will grab a quick dinner, go to a movie on the Champs, and then off to the Bell Tower of Notre Dame. Hopefully we'll be able to go up to the top. It's open until 11pm tonight and promises stunning views of the city at night.
What a turnaround! The blog had been so good, such enjoyable reading - UNTIL TODAY! Now it is torture to read. Unfortunately today's blog has completely filled me with huge amounts of sheer JEALOUSY. I was fine with the Musee d'Orsay, even the croissants and "other pastries" for breakfast but after that I started to go down the path of envy with every description of a new sight and experience, until by the time you got to the puppet theater and Audrey and Cary I found myself in a jealous frenzy. And then you have to anticipate going to the top of Notre Dame, the bell tower itself, and see the city at night! I hope the hunchback throws the lot of you off - while I pack my bags and check on flight times........
ReplyDeleteStarr says many people have what you are doing now as their life dream. it is right up there with finding the right spouse and paying off your mastercard. so enjoy.
ReplyDeletei would like to report that although my parrot does not necessarily come when i call him, i almost always show up when he calls me.