It’s Tuesday and another wet day, but not like yesterday.  The best sight to see is a museum. First choice: the Musee d’Orsay. The Orsay has Paris’ best collection of Impressionist art beginning from the Belle Epoque to the start of WWI.  As well, it is home to marble and bronze sculpture.  I focused on these, my favorites.  The museum itself is a renovated train station, grand and light-filled, a real beauty with a gigantic “gare” clock that hangs on the northwest wall.  Using Adine’s city artiste pass, I was in the museum within 10 minutes of hopping off the #69 bus.

I spent three hours listening to Rick Steves’ audio guide and wandering the museum but primarily the main, 2nd, and 5th floors.  Manet, Renoir, Monet, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Rodin, I saw them all. Highlights include the use of vibrant color and light, thick brush stroke applications of oil on canvas, techniques developed as these artists shared and practiced the new style which critics of the time rejected as mere “impressions” of their subjects.  It was a thrill to see one after the other, gallery after gallery, of recognizable pieces as well as one in particular which I saw at the deYoung’s 1986 Impressionist exhibit, a copy I still have at home. After 29 years, we were reacquainted.

My outing wrapped up with a bit of window shopping in the 7th arrondissement, I caught the Metro to avoid a shower and headed back to safe and dry Saint-Mande.  Tonight I had my first sit-down meal at a bistro near the house and the server was delightful and sweet.  There I had a two hours of bliss and deliciousness starting at 6 p.m. with a Cosmo and ending with a cappuccino, no rushing since the regular dinner crowd wouldn’t arrive until 8 or 9 p.m.

Me and the main floor of the gare, or train station, which is now the Musee d’Orsay.

Rodin’s famous danseur

A Renoir favorite, everyday people enjoying the weekend on the hills of Montmartre.

I’ve seen this one before and have it framed at home, by Monet.

Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait, very awesome to see.

My starter, a cosmopolitan

Drip, drip, drop, it’s wet outside. What will I see today if it’s wet?  Nothing that’s outside of a building or some other shelter.  Did I bring the right footwear? Nope. I barely brought enough to layer and keep warm.  Not terrible, especially since the Monoprix store is just around the corner and one alley over.  A bit of a Target but much smaller, I dropped in to pick up two ankle socks (for double-socking which is so comfy), a long-sleeved tee, an aubergine (not the vegetable) wooley V-neck “pull,” and a cool grey cross-over sling bag. I’m ready to tackle my next outing.

Museums? It’s Monday and most are closed but the Louvre is open.  But unless I’m the first one in the door, there’s no way I will stand in line.  So my next best idea is one from Rick Steves, the wise-one of all travel European: Get on the #69 bus. Paris has the most awesome city transport system.  The Metro is the underground and those 9 or 10 or 11 lines criss-cross beneath the city and come every 5 to 10 minutes.  The bus system weaves visitors and residents on the streets and by picking just the right line, you can have the best seat in the house for 1.70 Euros, at the back, right side, sitting up high to get a clear view of the surroundings.  I bought a week’s pass for 21 Euros and today I got my money’s worth.  From the east end where I’m staying, I travelled for 60 minutes one-way to the west end of Paris where I saw, for the first time, the famous Pyramid in the Louvre courtyard, embassy after embassy from around the world, the Orsay Museum, chic & trendy boutiques and stores, the Hotel des Invalides where Napoleon rests, the green and grassy Parc du Champs de Mars, and finally, at the route’s end, the Eiffel Tower.  I exited the bus, popped open my umbrella, and snapped a few pics of the tower.  It was tricky balancing the umbrella, operating my phone, and seeing through tears to frame my memory.  With shelter from the park trees, I stayed a while to take it all in.

My return trip was just as easy since the bus stop was nearby.  But instead of sitting through the afternoon stand-still of traffic in the downtown area, I took the #69 to the Chatelet stop, exited, then hoofed it down to the Metro for the #1 line.  I knew the Metro would save me time and sanity, the sooner to peel off my damp socks.  Tomorrow, another wet one, I think I need to be at the Orsay early to beat the crowds and enjoy an indoor day of Impressionist art and art and more art.

#69 Bus, the DIY cross-city tour bus

My tarte de pommes treat for the bus ride

Tour Eiffel – October 5, 2015

Headed towards the Chatelet Metro, a central station

Yesterday the weather changed cooler, cloudier, but still nice to go out, with my trusty umbrella.  Taking the Metro to the Anvers station, I bought a croque monsieur for the road and started the steady walk/hike up to Sacre Coeur.  With other pilgrims I marched past shops selling the ubiquitous Paris memorabilia, taking my time going gently higher and higher.  Then, there it was at the top of the staircases, Sacre Coeur.  There, with all the other people who woke earlier than I did!  After tackling the first terrace, I decided to sit at an available bench to eat my toasty sandwich and people-watch before finishing the trek.  Once done, I was surprised at how many bodies were on the stairs and terraces two levels above.  Hawkers, vendors, a few suspicious scammers, and a fellow skilled at balancing a soccer ball to Avril Lavigne tunes filled the space.  Zooming past them I found the line to the building and enjoyed a visit in this 19th century hommage to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  My favorite windows depicted the life of St. Joan of Arc.

Next on my walking tour was the northern back of the cathedral, the heart of the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre, where the artists, singers, musicians, and creative ones thrived during the belle epoque and after. Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Edith Piaf, Sidney Bechet, and Picasso are a few famous artists who called this free-spirited district their home.  After winding around and down the alley streets and admiring really lovely home facades, I ended up at the Abbesses Metro station, having missed the Moulin Rouge, my intended destination. Another day perhaps because I was tiring (“can-can,” not) and the afternoon was getting chillier.

For the evening, I helped Denis and Adine with dinner, delicious roasted eggplant, turkey, my lentil soup as a starter, and salad and cheese to end the meal.  The veggies and cheese Denis and I purchased at the morning farmers market.

All delicious, bien sur.

Sacre Coeur

Croque monsieur!

St. Joan of Arc chapel windows

Elevated street behind Sacre Coeur – my first sighting of the Eiffel Tower in the distance

Montmartre Place

That’s our fresh aubergine (eggplant) – it’s not just a color, so you know.

Frommage, sold by a father and his two sons. Denis knows them all.

Friday was my day to visit La Marais (the Marsh), Arrondissement 3.  Taking the Metro, I popped up and decided to have first a poulet et mozzarella panini avec tomate.  Warm and crispy, so simple and delicious, twelve inches of heaven wrapped in a paper sheet. Merci!  Then, fed and recharged, I made my way into the Marais to wind around the narrow streets.  I found a pop-up store selling craft jewelry, leather wallets, clothes, and wooly hats, of which I bought one.  Back on the cobbled streets, I passed hotel after hotel (18th century mansions) noted with official plaques en francais which told their stories.  Jewish residents and gay community flourish in the 3rd district and I was happy to be wrapped in the culture.  Passing by the Pompidou, I continued back to Notre Dame to find the Deportation Memorial but, alas, it was closed. I rushed further to the end of the ile to try to see Sainte Chapelle but was too late to get in.  Being on Saint Michel Boulevard, I decided to may my way back to the house early.  At least I was’t too late for the Monoprix (grocery story) and bought bouillon, veggies, and green lentils to cook a pot of lentil soup.

Yesterday I picked up the the #86 bus to enjoy the west-bound tour on my way to visit Saint Sulpice.  What luck, I was able to catch (and record) the last 15 minutes of the afternoon choir concert.  Saint Sulpice is home to one of Europe’s oldest and finest organs, extraordinary, rich-sounding.  The Sulpicean order of religious was the order which Jean-Baptiste de la Salle professed.  I took a photo of the stained-glass window and chapel in his honneur — the patron of all Christian Brothers schools which Vinny and Philip attended (Saint Mary’s College High School, Berkeley).  I said a prayer of thanks.

Next, I decided on a lunch break (at 2:30 p.m.) and rather than sit down for a plat du jour I found another panini stand.  This time, I bought a Coke and then headed towards the Jardin du Luxembourg, Marie de Medici’s re-creation of her Florence home after the death of Henry IV.  I sat, ate, and enjoyed watching people reading, playing chess, resting with little ones, and watching tennis matches.  It was lovely to see the colorful flower gardens and fountains and to see and smell green grass.  I finished up and headed west out of the park then came upon a gathering at the bandstand singing (with songbooks) to a 3-piece band, which I videoed.  Then, off I went to the Cluny Museum which houses a collection of medieval art including gorgeous tapestries.  The Lady and the Unicorn series of tapestries reside in the Cluny which was once a public bath, both cool and hot waters.  Deciding to call it a day, I made my way back to Sainte-Mande.

Corner on La Marais

Saint Sulpice – St. Jean-Baptiste De la Salle Chappelle

Panini & The Real Thing

Cluny Museum courtyard

After a long night’s rest, I finally went out the door for an afternoon in the 2nd Arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, and Notre Dame Cathedral.  Taking the bus to get an above-ground introduction to Paris, the #86 dropped me off a few streets away.  I crossed my first Paris bridge to Notre Dame.  Finding Point Zero, the exact center of Paris marked in the plaza 30 metres from the door, I studied the detailed facade.  I entered the cathedral with a line of other visitors and took in the vast nave, sanctuary, stained glass all around, and the grandness of its 9 centuries old beauty.  I visited each side chapel, one by one, and then seated myself for time to reflect.  Before I knew it, Vespers began, then mass.  What a day to visit: the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux, of the Little Flower, October 1.  When mass concluded, the congregation, the last souls in the building, exited the north doors below the famous and last original stained glass of the Rose Window.

Evening then, I roamed the streets back on the Left Bank and visited Shakespeare & Company, of course!

View from Petit Pont

Point Zero

Notre Dame at night

I have arrived in France.  My hosts, Adine & Denis, are lovely and they have so much information about how to get around.  And, even as important, how to adjust to the newness of my arrival and simply being in France.

I spent the afternoon hours wandering the cobbled streets of this quaint village-town that is about 20 minutes by Metro from Paris.  It is cool here and I enjoyed sunning myself on a park bench in the town hall square and being present in a new place.  Children are dismissed from school after 4 pm, so I spent an hour watching moms and grannies walk with youngsters and pushing buggies through the well-trimmed garden of red and white begonias and short hedges.  Nice way to ease into vacation.

S-M City Hall square

Thought I should post an entry while I’m schooling myself on this blog and its how-to’s.  Not complicated, just as I’d hoped, this blog will help me trace my steps to Paris and re-trace them when I return home and want to relive the journey.

Before that, the next couple of weeks are busy.  Planning the monthly routine, like paying bills when I’m away, is on my mind.  Next, technology, and all the goodies I need to pack with me.  Interspersed is laundry, doing my own, and looking at the piles of clean clothes that need a new home.  Then, the most precious task, packing up and delivering my Cat back to Cal Poly on the 19th, and coordinating all she needs to move into an on-campus apartment.  What freedom!  It’s been fun talking about cooking and cleaning, shopping for a few necessities, and savoring these last days of summer vacation with her at home.  Once she’s settled back at SLO, the final countdown begins.

But for now, it’s enjoying the super warm weather, being with the family, and imagining sipping a well-made cocktail after work with the girls on Friday the 11th.

Getting ready to go to Paris, there are 38 days (and counting) left before departure.  Lots of things to do still like deciding on my wardrobe, places to see, reservations to make, and being schooled on my blog.  This is my first entry.