Today was a great day, blue sunny skies, a mild wind, and cool. We slept in and left the apartment at 10, having no absolutely set plans, but thinking of going to the Musee d'Orsay, the famous impressionist museum. It was so nice and sunny outside that we waffled on going, but when we got to the museum and saw that the lines were almost non-existent, we decided to go in: a very excellent decision.
The Musee d'Orsay is fabulous. A beautifully renovated old train station, it is a wonderful space for exhibiting the impressionist works, particularly on the top floor, where natural light bathes the galleries. Because of the light and the tall spaces, the museum did not have a claustrophobic feel, even though it was fairly crowded, and it seemed to draw a much more sedate, serious crowd than we saw at the Louvre.
And the art was great. Gallery after gallery of works, mostly paintings but also sculptures, laid out (from bottom floors to top) so as to follow the development of impressionism. With the boys we had a limited time there (they were pretty good, but we know their limits), and couldn't see nearly all we wanted to see, which was a shame; we could have easily spent the whole day. I have no expertise in art whatsoever, but it is easy to see why the impressionists are so popular -- their paintings are beautiful, interesting, and emotionally evocative.
After the museum, we engaged in our second (or maybe first) favorite Paris pastime, eating lunch. We found a small restaurant that was basically a sandwich place, but that we a little more upscale (and only a little bit more pricy) and had a wider range of choices. I had a delicious quiche and salad with half a baguette; it was completely satisfying. After lunch we did more walking, with the Luxembourg Garden as our destination. The boys got boats to sail again, we sat and watched them and the other visitors, then walked to the bus stop and took our friend the 82 back to Levellois ... longer than the Metro, but much more scenic, and with no walking up and down and up and down during the correspondence.
Today's pictures are annotated!
Below, the interior of the Musee d'Orsay.
Two boys in the Musee d'Orsay.
The view of Monmartre and Sacre Coeur from the Musee d'Orsay.
A work in the museum.
Street scene en route to the Luxembourg Garden.
Chess players at the Luxembourg Garden.
The Palais du Luxembourg.
Me and the boys by a replica of the Statute of Liberty.
Andrew and his sailboat.
Suzie and Carol sharing a laugh.
My favorite bus sign. They do love (mostly small) dogs here.
(Domestic animal? Yes, if it is small and in a bag.)
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