Rain, the Orangerie Museum, and a walk along the Seine

Day 19 France 2012

The apartment manager had left juice, milk, butter, jam, yogurt, and espresso coffee for the espresso machine.  We had gone to the little market down the street and bought bacon and eggs and bread, so we were really fixed up for a great breakfast this morning.  We sat around and talked for a long time and did some catching up on computer work and even did a couple of loads of laundry in the brand new washer and dryer in this apartment.  Using appliances in a foreign country is always an interesting experience. It sometimes takes all 4 of us to figure out how to work things.

It was raining, so we decided to go to the Orangerie museum today since we could be inside.  We thought we would just catch a cab over there, but when we got out, we couldn't find a cab anywhere.  By now, it was pouring down rain, and although we all had umbrellas and raincoats, we were getting soaked.  We decided to just find a metro station and take the metro.  It was a long walk to a metro station, but we were able to get off just a block from the museum, and the rain had let up to just a drizzle by then.

In the courtyard of the museum is Rodin's statue called "The Kiss."

We enjoyed seeing Monet's huge paintings of the pond, waterlilies, and willow trees from his home in Giverney since Leon and I had just visited Giverney 3 weeks ago.  You are not allowed to take photos inside, but the paintings are huge and fill two circular rooms.  The first room has paintings of just the water and lilies, but the second room has paintings of the willow trees hanging over the water.  These were painted during Monet's twilight years when he was suffering from cataracts and had a hard time even seeing.  It is amazing that he would undertake such a huge project when his health was not good.




There was also a special exhibition honoring Claude Debussy that we saw, and it was wonderful.



The sun was shining when we came out, and my knee was feeling fine, so I suggested that we walk back to the apartment.  We took lots of photos along the way.

This is in the Tuileries gardens:

We crossed the river and had this view of Notre Dame Cathedral in the distance as we crossed the bridge..

Leon and Mark were fascinated by this amphibious car (note that it has a propeller) on the back of one of the many barges parked on the side of the river.  Most of these barges are pleasure boats, but some are actually homes.

The Grand Palace and the Pont (bridge) Alexander III were all built for the 1900 World Exposition.

The statues on the top of the columns at each end of the bridge just glow in the sunlight.

 The Place de la Concorde is where so many people were executed by the guillotine during the French Revolution. The gold topped obelisk was given to France by Egypt in the 19th century.

Look carefully and you can see the Arch of Triumph in the distance.

Leon and Mark and I went down to get supplies for dinner.  We bought a roasted chicken, some tomato salad, mache for a green salad, bread, apple tarts, and some baklava.  We came home and put together our dinner, opened a bottle of wine, and feasted.  Sorry, no pictures were taken, but take my word that it was delicious.