Gerry and Sue have never been to Musee d’Orsay and it has been 19 years since we last visited, so we all agreed to start our day of sightseeing there. We bought entrance tickets while still at the hotel so we could skip any long ticket line that might be there, something that has become very common at many Paris museums. As it turned out there was not much of a line when we arrived around 11AM. We each bought the audio guides to help us understand what we would be viewing. I also had my trusty Rick Steves‘ guide book to further enhance our visit and make sure we saw the most important works of art currently there. We quickly decided that it would be best if we each went our own ways and meet at one of the restaurants at 1 PM.

This museum focuses on art starting where the Louvre stops- with the impressionist movement so we were able to see works by Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Gauguin and other famous impressionism and post-impressionism painters. An exciting find for me was seeing the Edgar Degas sculpture of a young ballet dancer called “The Little Dancer”. I was excited because last month Yvonne and I attended a pre-Broadway musical called “Marie- Still Dancing” that played in Seattle. It is based on the story of Degas and his creation of this controversial work of art. As an aside : Seattle is often used as a testing ground for new musicals and plays before they go to Broadway. If this one makes it I would suggest you see it as it is delightful.

Yvonne and I decided we should also go separate ways and off I went to try to see all the art that Rick Steves features in his book on Paris. I got to see most before needing to  rendezvous with my colleagues at 1PM. Gerry and Sue wanted to continue spending time at the museum but Yvonne and I had reached our attention span limit. We agreed to reconvene at the hotel at 6PM and we exited the museum intent on revisiting a favorite haunt of the past, the Rue Cler area in the 7th arrondissement to have lunch. As we waited for a cab we saw a sign for boat rides on the Seine and Yvonne thought we might get a good closeup view of Notre Dame as the boats go right by it, so we decided to forgo lunch and take a ride on the Seine instead. The one hour narrated ride passed all the important sights on the river including the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame. Unfortunately there was no food for sale on the boat and we had to settle for a few pieces of chocolate I had stashed in my man bag.

By the time we exited the ride it was 2:45 and we were hungry, so we grabbed front row seats at a local bistro that served crepes and watched people go by as we played “Parisian”!

The other attraction I really had hoped to revisit was Sainte-Chapelle, the magnificent chapel built by King Louis IX in 1248 to house religious relics, including the crown of thorns. What makes it so magnificent is that all of its walls contain nothing but stained glass windows. It is one of those OMG sights. It turns out it was right across the street from the bistro we were sitting at. Refreshed with food and drink we walked over and discovered why pre-purchased tickets ( which we did not have for this location) are good to have as we had to wait in line almost 30 minutes before being able to purchase tickets and enter the chapel. It was worth it; Sainte-Chapelle must be on your must see list if you are in Paris.

Leaving the chapel we heard music and saw a large crowd nearby and decided to see what was happening. It turns out there was a bread exposition underway with bakers competing for prizes, a singer entertaining the crowd and most important, booths selling freshly made breads and pastries! Of course we had to try a few and were not disappointed. I even bought a couple of custard filled treats for Gerry and Sue, which did manage to make it back to the hotel without being eaten by us along the way.

6 PM arrived and we all were tried and not too hungry so we rented to the cocktail lounge for one final round of Manhattans and some French onion soup,  a suitable ending to our quick visit to Paris and the Loire Valley of France.