Paris has been a city of baguettes, art museums, and pathetic attempts to say "hello," "please," and "thank you" in French. Breakfast here is a baguette, I take an extra for snacking during the day, eat a late lunch consisting of a baguette with ham and cheese on it (or if I'm lucky a crepe with ham and cheese) and most likely a baguette for "dinner." Plain bread gets old, butter doesn't travel well, so Nutella it is. After 5 days of baguettes and Nutella, I'm ready for Spain.
You all know that da Vinci was a genius, the Eiffel Tower is way cooler all lit up at night, and that Louis XIV loved himself and Versailles absolutely shows that. So here are a few stories and facts I learned to show you Paris in a different way.
Monday: My (not actually) free walking tour rookie around the city to all the major sites, but the coolest was unexpected: Pont Neuf. Henry III wanted a stone bridge that wouldn't burn down; many people said it couldn't be done; Henry IV finished it, threw a party and invited those same disbelievers, had caricatures done of all attendees and added their exaggerated (and ugly) faces to the bridge for all of eternity! After the tour I headed to Monmartre and Sacre Couer - beautiful church and amazing views from the hilltop!
Tuesday: The Orsay might be my favorite museum ever. With the Louvre closed on Tuesdays, I did the art timeline backwards and started with Impressionists. I listened to a podcast from Rick Steves as I wandered, providing some free insight into the artists and works I saw. I really love anything Monet did, Renoir's landscapes, and Degas' dancers and portraits (and everything else too!) 5 hours wasn't enough, but as my feet were tired of standing, so I walked to and around Notre Dame and St. Chapelle.
Tuesday's story goes like this. I decided to do a night bike tour, which was a good time until it started raining. That didn't stop me from trying to take pictures (while riding). There was one particularly close call while taking a photo of the Louvre's pyramid all lit up and essentially abandoned because of the rain -- from a moving bike on wet pavement. I stayed on the bike but the photos were less than stellar. However wine on the boat and a lit up sparkling Eiffel Tower at 11pm on the ride back were worth the wet clothes.
Days 3-5 in Paris up soon, photos probably when I get to Madrid.
Mmm nutella! haha. Eat some tapas in Spain and see how it stacks up to Mas! :) Seems like you are cramming a lot into each day. I'm impressed that you aren't exhausted yet!
ReplyDeleteFeel you on Musee d'Orsay and in fact would love to build an identical clock into our future house. I believe the cafe is behind the clock adding wonderful natural light. It sounds like Paris was worth sticking in there
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