Saturday, September 12

Saturday began with breakfast at the hotel – very good combination of American and French breakfast options. Our group was then on for a bus tour of highlights of Paris, with a great (and funny) guide. We visited (drove by) the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, various palaces (which are now government buildings) and neighborhoods, etc. The weather in the morning was cool, but sunny.

Our tour then stopped at the Musée d’Orsay, and the Diamonds and Steinbergs (and others) got off to spend more time there. It is a great museum, with lots of impressionist paintings, which are our favorite, sculpture and decorative arts. We got excited when we saw some of the original van Gogh paintings of the places we had seen in Arles earlier on our trip. (Arles has historical markers at each location from which van Gogh painted, and a reproduction of his painting.) Lunch was at the café at the museum and, after a few more galleries at the museum, we headed on a short walk to the Musée de l’Orangerie, which is known for its long panels of Monet water lilies – two oblong rooms contain 12 panels, each of which could fill a wall in a normal room. Wow!

The Musée de l’Orangerie is adjacent to Place de la Concorde, which contains a 3,000 year-old Egyptian obelisk and was the site of mass executions during the French Revolution. It is also in one corner of a section of the Jardin des Tuileries, and we headed into the garden, past a huge round pool surrounded with chairs, each filled with someone enjoying the weekend in Paris. We visited an outdoor café in the garden, and enjoyed sitting and people-watching. We had a waiter that kept apologizing for the slow service – he said it was his first day. When we left, Ivan gave him a tip for being “the slowest waiter in Paris.”

Then we were off for our first visit (this trip) to the Paris Metro. Their subway system works similar to that in DC, so we didn’t have much trouble finding the line that would take us back to Monparnasse station, which is only a block from our hotel. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to buy a suitcase (so Rita wouldn’t have an overweight suitcase coming home) and some water. Then we were ready for the most important decision of the day – where to have dinner!

We had dinner at a neighborhood restaurant next to the Odean Theatre, 6th Arondissement. It was recommended by a cousin of mine who spends a lot of time in Paris. We agreed that the food was outstanding – Rita said it was the best meal she has had in France – but the service was slower than our earlier stop today. I guess the French just don’t hurry for anything!