Day 16 – Paris, France

I had a full day planned and with fresh pastries purchased for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch we hit the streets of Paris. 

First stop, the Rodin Museum. I read that there are 2 types of tourists in Paris, “Those with museum passes and those (losers) without.” A museum pass is 39euro and provides access to the majority of museums and various sites around the city. It easily pays for itself after visiting only 4 locations. However, the BIG advantage is that the Pass allows you to skip every line and go right in past the crowds. To me, my time while traveling is priceless and I don’t want to waste it standing in a line. The Rodin Museum was not crowded and I loved the gardens and how all the sculptures were so accessible as Rodin had intended. The house in the middle of the garden was Rodin’s home.  The cone shaped trees created a very surreal environment, but the a-tonic voices that were coming from the speakers within each tree was a bit unnerving.  At museums, I always find it interesting to watch how people react or interact with the artwork. Many visitors to the garden did not seem to realize that the bronze sculptures were meant to be admired, and not used as a bench. Even the statues themselves seemed to be saying, “WTF, don’t sit on me.”

Second stop was the Orsay Museum and with our passes, we bypassed the long ticket lines and went directly inside to visit with some inspiring artists.. The Orsay is one of my favorite museums. Ironically, 4 rooms of the museum was being renovated and some of the collection was on loan to The Doge’s Palace in Venice (we had not been able to get into The Doge’s Palace while in Venice).  Everything about the Orsay is wonderful.  In addition to experiencing some of the best that the impressionists have to offer, the architecture is beautiful. The Orsay is in the old train station and makes you feel like you are on a journey of discovery while exploring every gallery. There was also a special exhibit and our museum pass allowed us to walk right in which included “The Red Dragon,” by William Blake.

Third stop was Musee L’Orangerie in Tuileries Garden. There was no line and the museum was pleasantly quiet. The Orangerie holds what is considered one of the first art installations made specifically for a museum space. Monet painted eight  panoramic panels for the oval space (4 in each room) lit by the most perfect natural lighting. Nymphéas (Water Lilies), was painted in the Monet’s garden at Giverny during the last years of his life when his eyesight was failing. The scenes take you from sunrise through sunset. They are beautiful and being surrounded by the artwork was a very unique experience. You can sit a gaze at the panels but everyone is drawn to walk counter clockwise around the room while experiencing the change of light within the paintings. At one point, Matt asked, “How much paint did he go through to create this?” Normally, a question like this from Matt is meant to be funny, but the sheer size of the panels and the thick dabs of paint, made it a serious question to ponder. Monet died before seeing the final installation, but what a wonderful gift he created. Thank you Claude!

The fourth stop brought us to St. Chapelle for a Vivaldi concert. I had booked this far in advance at the advice of my friend, Vicki, who stated the concert was her best Parisian experience. The St. Chapelle is a chapel almost complete made of stained glass soaring high above, originally erected to house Christ’s crown of thorns and commissioned by King Louis IX. The concert was wonderful. It consisted of 4 violinist and 1 harpsichordist. The lead violinist was a virtuoso. I’ve never seen a violin played like that in person or seen Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed with so much joy and passion. He truly enjoyed every note he played while inspiring his fellow musicians. Being surrounded by the beautiful music and visually encompassing stained glass was a Parisian experience that I will never forget.

An Interesting side note, King Louis paid the equivalent of 35 million dollars to the Venetians for the relic in 1278. The Crown of Thorns is no longer housed in the St. Chapelle. They were moved to Notre Dame in 1801 during the French Revolution. They are brought out each year on Good Friday.

After the concert, we grabbed a couple of panini’s and enjoyed a picnic dinner by the river. In the distance, black clouds were rolling in along with flashes of lightening. Our final stop of the day was a 10:30 reservation to go up the Eiffel Tower. Matt nervously watched the lightening get closer and questioned if going up a tower in lightening storm was really the best idea. I assured him that it would be fine…no worries on my part.

At 10:30 we boarded the elevator to go up the Eiffel Tower. Those without reservations were basically out of luck and standing in long lines hoping for a chance to just climb the stairs. I love high places and it was a different experience going up at night versus my last visit which was during the day. Up top was a bit crowded, but there was always a spot along the railing to take in the views and. However, the lightening still flashing all around the city. Matt did not seem to be enjoying the heights or the possibility of being electrocuted. 

By the time we got down, the skies had opened up and the rain began to pour.  We had thought to take shelter at a crepe stand for an evening dessert, but that was disrupted when 2 of the most inept police officers tried to take down South African who was peddling unauthorized merchandise. Cop #1 (male) had no fight skills and looked like a little school girl flailing about. His partner, Cop #2 (female) was the most useless partner I have ever seen. She basically just danced around the altercation, refraining from physically helping her partner.  Their backup arrived 15 minutes after the action had ended and the seller had escaped into the night, leaving Cop 1 victoriously holding 1 small backpack of merchandise.

On the subway ride home, Matt remarked how his friend, Paul who is a cop, would have had the guy down within 5 seconds. Overall, not impressed with the French police.