Orsay, Sainte-Chapelle, and a Seine River tour

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Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097

Bonsoir, friends and family:

Another busy day, with a LOT of walking! For a large city, Paris is quite walkable. It's a major way for Parisiens to move about, get to work, do their business, and play.

Set out for the Orsay Museum (Musee d'Orsay) on foot this morning because it was another beautiful day in Paris. It did end up raining hard several times today, but as vacationers' luck would have it, we were indoors three times when it did rain. (And a morning-after postscript: had a great thunder and lightening downpour overnight, too.)

The Orsay is a stunningly beautiful building that was originally built for the 1900 world exposition and later functioned as the Paris train station for years. It houses French art from 1848 to 1914, picking up where the Louvre collection ends. The collection includes all the masters of French Impressionism, including Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gauguin, with an American oddity like 'Whistler's Mother' added for good measure.

Around every bend was another stunning piece, resulting in an experience that was far more thrilling than The Louvre (there, I said it). Mike even bumped into an old clown student of his, John Roy Wilson from Eugene, who he hadn't seen in years. What serendipity.

After the Orsay, we headed over (another long walk) to Ile de la Cite (City Island) to catch the breathtaking stained glass wonder of Sainte-Chapelle, which we missed yesterday by five minutes after its 5:30 pm closing. Stopped for a quick bite for lunch and had our first encounter with a rude French (Parisien) waiter. That fellow had some issues and clearly did not like his job!

Sainte-Chapelle is a Gothic church built in the 13th Century for King Louis IX. Still under extensive renovation, its defining feature is its 15 separate panels of stained glass, 6500 square feet of more than 1100 different scenes. It is an enchanting display of light!

A Seine River boat cruise followed as dusk was setting in. It was a beautiful evening to view so many of the wonders of Paris from the river on a one-hour tour, a one-hour tour (you've got to be a bit older to get that one, little buddy).

Then, the LONG hike home, well over an hour. We just kept walking until we saw a Metro station, and since we never did run into one on the route we were following, we arrived at our hotel pretty walked-out.

After a quick nap and clean-up, we hit Le Petit Cler around the corner for a quick bite to eat, a glass of cheap (but marvelous) Bordeaux, and a split of a caramel custard. Yumm. It poured again during dinner but dried up by the time it was to walk back.

We will sleep well tonight (and yes, miss the Bills game). Be well, fellow travelers!

Au revoir.

Mike and Sharon

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