le 24 Septembre
After a not bad but not great sleep I arose shortly after 8:00 this morning. There were definitely a few cobwebs to shake out as we boarded the métro holding onto our Starbucks' for dear life. We had quite a long ride to the site of Les Catacombes in Montparnasse; unfortunately, once we arrived we saw a sign announcing that due to acts of vandalism the catacombs were closed indefinitely. Bummer. But on the bright side, we were able to double-back to a lovely little patisserie where we purchased some madeleines and millefeuille. Sitting on a park bench we plotted our next move - the Musée Cluny. Situated on the site of a Roman bathhouse, the museum holds treasures from before the dawn of the Renaissance. The much touted 'Lady and the Unicorn' series of tapestries is the centrepiece of the collection and it lived up to the publicity. We passed through numerous rooms devoted to various aspects of Middle Ages art and artisanship -stained glass, metal work, weapons, jewels and then we entered the dimly lit room where the Lady holds court. I found it absolutely stunning that so many hours and so much human effort would have been expended on such a work of art, and was thankful that it had been. We sat on one of the benches and discussed the meaning of the final tapestry - whether she is putting her jewels away or taking them out - and the meaning of the phrase 'my one true desire'.
Next on the menu was the Musée Rodin. Having seen many of the sculptures previously at the WAG exhibition last year, many of the major works were familiar. I did however adore 'The Cathedral', a marble of two right hands. The gardens were lovely as well and after a cloudy and very cool start to the day, the sun broke through shortly after we sat down to lunch at the Cafe de Musée right on the corner near the Hotel Biron. A delicious meal followed.
To Les Invalides to see Napoleon's tomb afterward and the feet were already beginning to scream. The building and tomb were out of this world - marble everywhere and very grand, again the scale was huge. We exited and walked along the side of the complex on our way to rue Bourgogne, finding a nice little patisserie/tea room where we purchased Parisian macaroons (pistache, framboise, et citron), a chocolate pistachio pyramid-shaped cake, and a strawberry millefeuille sandwich thingy as well as some Orangina. We made our way along the street and found ourselves behind and on the side of the Assemblée Nationale, quite by accident. We were also in between a long line of gendarmes and some people staging some kind of demonstration/sit-in. So there we were trying to blend in to the scenery with our little bag of pastries and Orangina walking behind a long line of riot police and it was very disquieting. As we neared the corner, several unmarked police cars disgorged their plainclothes officers, sirens blaring, but then inexplicably sped off again after the agents loaded themselves back in.
It was with great relief that we crossed the street, took up a spot by the wall overlooking the Seine and began eating our sweeties. After a duo of Italian tourists walked by and asked us if it was too far to walk to the Eiffel Tower from that spot, we knew we were back in blissful tourist-land. Funny thing - on Tuesday evening when we were at the Eiffel Tower, a different duo of Italian tourists asked us for directions to the métro and I have now drawn several possible conclusions:
1) We look Italian.
2) Italians like the Eiffel Tower but don't really know how to get there (beyond going to Paris) and do not know how to leave.
3) You cannot buy maps of Paris in Italy.
And so, on to the Musée d'Orsay. Did I mention that my feet were screaming? By the end of our tour I was so saturated with Impressionists that I was really about to scream. We weren't yet ready for dinner so we decided on a glass of wine at the Café de Deux Musées and played car spotting. Peugeot, Renault, Citroen, le Beemer.
Took the métro home and found a Franprix where we were able to stock up on supplies. Wine, cheese, bread, ham, cornichons, juice, milk, brioche buns for breakfast all for less than 27€!! We had a nice, light dinner in the room and we were in bed by 9:30.
J'adore Paris!
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