January 30 Wednesday
No alarm had been set for this morning, and we slept longer than planned. It was dark until almost 8 AM here in Paris this time of year. After breakfast and getting ready, we didn’t leave the apartment until 11 AM. Our first stop again was a photo op at the Hotel de Ville. The weather today was completely different — sunny with no clouds, but still cold — no complaints. We continued on to Notre Dame and this time went in. The impressiveness of this place is the archectural achievemnent and the stained glass windows, especially the three rose windows. Otherwise, it is not overly adorned with decorations. We walked around but were a little constrained by the mass that began at noon. I enjoyed seeing a mini recreation of Bethlehem including a crèche, still on display after Christmas.
We continued on to the Sainte-Chapelle. This was really amazing. We had been here in 1994, but Rob didn’t remember this visit. This church was completed by St. Louis in 1248 to house the relic that he had purchased — the crown of thorns (which had cost more than the chapel). Then, when Notre Dame was completed, Sainte-Chappelle was essentially abandoned. The stained glass windows here are amazing. The rose window has beautiful green colors. We spent quite a lot of time here admiring the windows. Today, the chapel is surrounded by a compound of government buildings. When we left, we crossed the street to the Brasserie Les Deux Palais for lunch. We were seated and served by a friendly young man who spoke perfect English. We both had chicken Caesar salads with Coca Cola Light — perfect. We then crossed the river to the south to walk along the Seine to the Musee d’Orsay. It took a little bit of time, but gave us lots of time for photographs of the city.
We got to the Musee d-Orsay and entered promptly with our six day museum passes. This was our third visit to this museum overall but our first since it had been remodelled. It is lovely, of course. We asked advice to get to the top floor which is where the Impressionism masterpieces are displayed. First we made a quick detour on the ground floor to see a few Monets — with snow scenes -- WOW! On the top floor, it is room after room of Monets, Renoirs, Sisleys, Pisarros — on and on and on. We took lots of photos to remember what we had seen. The galleries go on forever, finally ending with a room for neo-Impressionism (Seurat and Signac, etc.). It was kind of overwhelming! When we finished the top floor, we thought we had seen most of what was interesting to us, but decided to also go through the second and first floors quickly. As it turned out, the second floor has three rooms of Van Gogh and Cezanne — Post Impressionism. Oh boy! Then on the first floor there were multiple rooms with Bonnard (with whom we had been so impressed at the Tate Modern) and Vuillard. How can there be so many works of art in one place? Now, we have been officially overloaded with art and have to leave! A quick stop at the gift shop for a few postcards and a magnet, then we needed to leave.
Outside, we discovered that the weather had really changed — now it is overcast and drizzly once again. Our destination was back to the north of the river to see our “old” hotel, the Hotel du Continent, where we had stayed with Rob’s cousin Steven Epstein in 1994 (his 40th birthday). It has been fixed up quite a bit. We didn’t go in, just took a photo outside. We saw a place on the corner that was likely the Irish pub, where we spent so much time in 1994. However, the cafe where we had enjoyed our daily morning cafe au lait, called Le Vers Luissant, was long gone. We continued walking to the nearby Place Vendôme and checked out the Ritz hotel, where we had had a drink on Steven’s birthday with his friend Olivier and Olivier's mother (again did not go in). Then we walked back to our hotel. The drizzle was threatening to turn into rain, which was unfortunate since we had not brought our umbrellas! However, we made it back without getting too wet. Then up five flights of stairs!
For dinner, we headed out to the street Rue Vieille du Temple for dinner at Les Philosophes, a restaurant recommended by Jim and Barry. It was okay — mostly a tourist clientele. Rob had monkfish and I had (farmed) salmon, after mixed salads with big slices of striped radishes. Wine was called Morgan — nothing we had heard of before, but good. Our waitress was really nice. Then home and to bed.
We continued on to the Sainte-Chapelle. This was really amazing. We had been here in 1994, but Rob didn’t remember this visit. This church was completed by St. Louis in 1248 to house the relic that he had purchased — the crown of thorns (which had cost more than the chapel). Then, when Notre Dame was completed, Sainte-Chappelle was essentially abandoned. The stained glass windows here are amazing. The rose window has beautiful green colors. We spent quite a lot of time here admiring the windows. Today, the chapel is surrounded by a compound of government buildings. When we left, we crossed the street to the Brasserie Les Deux Palais for lunch. We were seated and served by a friendly young man who spoke perfect English. We both had chicken Caesar salads with Coca Cola Light — perfect. We then crossed the river to the south to walk along the Seine to the Musee d’Orsay. It took a little bit of time, but gave us lots of time for photographs of the city.
We got to the Musee d-Orsay and entered promptly with our six day museum passes. This was our third visit to this museum overall but our first since it had been remodelled. It is lovely, of course. We asked advice to get to the top floor which is where the Impressionism masterpieces are displayed. First we made a quick detour on the ground floor to see a few Monets — with snow scenes -- WOW! On the top floor, it is room after room of Monets, Renoirs, Sisleys, Pisarros — on and on and on. We took lots of photos to remember what we had seen. The galleries go on forever, finally ending with a room for neo-Impressionism (Seurat and Signac, etc.). It was kind of overwhelming! When we finished the top floor, we thought we had seen most of what was interesting to us, but decided to also go through the second and first floors quickly. As it turned out, the second floor has three rooms of Van Gogh and Cezanne — Post Impressionism. Oh boy! Then on the first floor there were multiple rooms with Bonnard (with whom we had been so impressed at the Tate Modern) and Vuillard. How can there be so many works of art in one place? Now, we have been officially overloaded with art and have to leave! A quick stop at the gift shop for a few postcards and a magnet, then we needed to leave.
Outside, we discovered that the weather had really changed — now it is overcast and drizzly once again. Our destination was back to the north of the river to see our “old” hotel, the Hotel du Continent, where we had stayed with Rob’s cousin Steven Epstein in 1994 (his 40th birthday). It has been fixed up quite a bit. We didn’t go in, just took a photo outside. We saw a place on the corner that was likely the Irish pub, where we spent so much time in 1994. However, the cafe where we had enjoyed our daily morning cafe au lait, called Le Vers Luissant, was long gone. We continued walking to the nearby Place Vendôme and checked out the Ritz hotel, where we had had a drink on Steven’s birthday with his friend Olivier and Olivier's mother (again did not go in). Then we walked back to our hotel. The drizzle was threatening to turn into rain, which was unfortunate since we had not brought our umbrellas! However, we made it back without getting too wet. Then up five flights of stairs!
For dinner, we headed out to the street Rue Vieille du Temple for dinner at Les Philosophes, a restaurant recommended by Jim and Barry. It was okay — mostly a tourist clientele. Rob had monkfish and I had (farmed) salmon, after mixed salads with big slices of striped radishes. Wine was called Morgan — nothing we had heard of before, but good. Our waitress was really nice. Then home and to bed.
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