The shower was hot - yay!! That made a good start. We looked out the window - no rain - even better. And while the ground was wet there were a couple of drying patches that indicated that it hadn't rained for a while. All good.
So off we set on the subway under the river to the ecole militaire - a metro stop just south of the Eiffel tower. We walked back towards the river and the tower. The top of the tower was shrouded in clouds, to going to the top made little sense. There was a queue of about 300 people for the elevator and NO queue for the steps. Easy choice. So we climbed up to the 1st & 2nd levels looking around & identifying landmarks. (115 m up and 1060 steps). It was really quiet - lots of space to ourselves. Amazingly we bumped into 2 US couples (from Boise Idaho) with whom we shared a train ride from Venice to Milan. We looked up & thought about getting the elevator to the top but it was still in cloud so we abandoned that idea and made our way down. As we were leaving it was amazing to see the throng of people arriving - we were very pleased to have beaten the crowds.
We then walked east along the river on the left bank for about 3 kms to the Musee D'Orsay - the one art gallery that I really wanted to see on this trip. And we weren't disappointed. Mind you while we were lucky with no crowds at the Eiffel Tower we made up for it in spades here. Two very long lines, even if you'd pre-purchased a ticket. So we shuffled along a line & after about 45 minutes we were inside.
In this line we had another meeting coincidence. A bit ahead of us was a guy in his SirsiDynix shirt. (This is the company whose software we have bought to roll out for all the public libraries in SA). I was a bit surprised that we would be wearing his work shirt on holidays. I went and introduced myself & we got chatting. His name is Ken Warner & he is a trainer. He was wearing his shirt because he is here on business but also has his family here. He left them in the line to go and train some customers. He got his wife to take a pic of us both & it will be emailed to Cathy Cusack (our Australian SD trainer).
Musee D'Orsay was everything I had hoped and expected it to be. It is in an old converted train station & the building alone is magnificent & complements the 19th Century (& early 20th) paintings, sculpture etc that fills it. There is a whole gallery of Impressionists, but so much more. It was worth the wait to get in.
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| Looking down the main gallery at Musee D'Orsay |
Perhaps the one bit I was a little disappointed with was the Art Nouveau glassware - as I collect it (as my budget allows). There was lots of furniture, pottery etc which I don't particularly like, but only a small collection of glass & it wasn't the best I have seen. But that is just my personal passion. For others who wanted a general overview of the movement it was a good display.
While I didn't mind queuing to get into the museum we then had to queue to get a drink. I wouldn't have done it but I was dying of thirst. There are 3 different eateries in the place & you had to queue for about 30 minutes to get a table at any of them. It is almost like they like to make you queue so you'll appreciate how fortunate you are to be there. OK for seeing the art - but to get a drink?? And the food was weird. It was the strangest Eu25 I'd spent. Lentil sludge with smoked salmon, quinoa seed chicken curry = birdseed & a ham sandwich with creme fraiche loaded with enough mint to make it taste like a dessert. Oh well. At least I got the drink of water I was desperate for.
We then wandered back over the river though the Tuileries garden & home via the Metro. I think I commented yesterday about the autumn colours in the trees - its looking great - some compensation for the rain!
Rhonda had found a review of a show in Paris called "How to be a Parisian in one hour" - by a French comedian, and in English. We looked up the address & it was literally around the corner from us - so of course we had to go. It was a small intimate theatre & the audience was about 50% French & the rest internationals. (We know this because he got people to call out / show hands etc.) It was a real hoot & as much as his take offs / put downs of the Parisians were excellent he did some fantastic imitations of Americans that were hilarious. True to the title the show was over in just over an hour so we got to have dinner by nine & then home to bed.
A long, diverse & really enjoyable day despite the weather.
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