Day 5 – On Tour in The City of Lights

We are feeling so familiar with our apartment, its magnificent view, and the neighbourhood. Today, feeling much better, we walk the side streets of Montmartre and stop in a small patisserie for our first disappointing snack…the bread was too dry and the cheese not the best quality. Oh la la, are we becoming Parisians?

We hop on our Hop On, Hop Off tour bus and hop off at Notre Dame, then hop on a boat on the Seine and hop off at the Musee D’Orsay. Well, it is good in a way that they ban cameras because I would still be there. It is the most wonderful museum I have ever been in. I love the art and artifacts it holds in a way that reaches my bones. It all feels familiar, yet compelling and to see these masterpieces in the “flesh” is such a gift because they are always different than any picture could relate. Degas’ ballerina sculpture was two feet tall – I thought she was tiny. And Renoir’s Dance At The Moulin De La Galette is large. There are rooms of Art Nouveau furniture that I didn’t expect and sculptures that Dennis and I together couldn’t figure out how they were constructed. The massive, carved clock that hangs in the huge open space that was once a railway station is breathtaking. Dennis is as engaged and amazed as I am and I could spend a week here, or a summer…if I go nowhere else, this alone is Paris in my heart and I love that he enjoys it so much too.

We stay at the D’Orsay until they close at 6:00 pm. The bookstore stays open until 6:30 and I buy my first souvenir, a book that outlines the collection. When we leave we wander to the Seine and take a boat for a few stops, then the Metro home. We shop to lay in supplies in case nothing is open for Bastille Day tomorrow.

Supper is at the Café des Artists a few blocks from the apartment: Onion Soup for me and Steak Hache avec pommes frites for Dennis.

It has been a full day and we settle in to do a laundry and soak in all that is wonderful and the gift the day has been. I am writing this blog at the computer with the wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower and as I glance at her…holy fireworks batman! The whole of Paris begins to erupt in fireworks. At one time we can see ten different displays going on in areas all around the city – we are so lucky to be up on this hill! – and these are not little home grown displays. These fireworks would send the Canada Day fireworks in Victoria home crying and could whoop some New Years Eve’s fireworks’ butts too! Each display seems to come in about six or seven acts. There is a BIG set and we think it is the end, and then they start up again. Each display lasting between 20 and 30 minutes and displays starting at different times all over the city.

This is catching us totally off guard because we thought the big display was tomorrow night at the end of Bastille Day – all the more special. With bright lights flickering before our eyes we set the alarm to be up and out early.