Today we spent wanding around, 1st the Champs-Élysées, then the general area around Hôtel National des Invalides. Had no agenda, motive or direction. A very good day.

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Another day of museum crawling, with little or no photographs.

First went to the Musée d’Orsay, which is huge and spraling, though not as big as the Louvre. Then went to the much smaller Musée Rodin, which is surrounded by a beautiful garden that contains many sculptures.

Lunch in the garden of Rodin

Gates of Hell ala Dante

Did not take too many photos today as I spent most of the day at the Louvre. Though photos are allowed, somehow I did not feel the need or want the distraction of running about with my camera.

The museum was immensly crowded, especially around the star attraction; the Mona Lisa. The crowd was intense next to this small painting, with hundreds pressing in on each other to get close. Everyone seemed to have a camera or cell phone stuck out like an appendage, leading me further to disdain my own camera.

I would stnad in front of a painting, and people would thrust a camera directly in front of my eyes to snap a picture of what I was looking at, and then scurry off to the next painting. A feeding frenzy of the visual. No one seemed to be looking at the art works.

Anyway, once the Mona Lisa was behind me, I was able to spend the rest of the day enjoying the acres of artworks the Louvre had to offer.

enchanteur!

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The great thing about traveling the way we do is mixing the monumental with the intimate. Though I love seeing the great sights of the great cities, it the local color that seems to be the thing I remember the most. Shopping for dinner in the street market, and talking to the vendors is alsways some of the best times. But of course, the Champs-Élysées is pretty memorable too.

Oh, and we went to the Picasso Museum too, which was partly closed due to a strike. ç’est la vie

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Went to the first official visit to a museum since our arrival, hard to believe but true. Visited the Musée National d’Art Moderne, which is nearby. Also visited the MUSÉE DE L’ORANGERIE. Walked around Paris, ate good food, and generally enjoyed ourselves.

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I noticed this map that iphoto thoughtfully provides. It lets you get an idea of where we have been so far. Kinda fun thing. The numbers indicate how many photos were taken from that spot.

The 1st full day here was spent wandering around and getting aquainted with the immediate neighborhood. L. and I went for a stroll through the Jardin des Tuileries. It was a beautiful sunny day, so there were lots of people out. Had good food, found grocery stores, and recovered. The next day (I’m a bit behind) we went on a river cruise on the Seine. I have a nice little video of the boat cruising past the Eiffel Tower, but so far cannot download it.

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Today marks 3 days until I leave. I must admit to a mild case of panic. I feel ike I have a lot to do, and I am running out of time in which to do it. Merde dure…gotta go anyway, done or not. I long to be gone so I can stop worrying about going. I imagine I will get on a
plane and leave all my worries behind. I dont know why I believe that, it’s never happend before. I’ll just find something else to fret about.

c'est la vie