Paris..........Day Three

Tuesday October 18, 2011

This might be my last post for two days, as I will be leaving Paris tomorrow AM and will not have time to write and summarize my Wednesday wanderings before I leave........  I will give a wrap up once I am home.

I began my day by taking a slow walk toward the Orsay Museum.  I have been looking forward to visiting this museum, since we unfortunately missed it when Gail and I were in Paris in the summer of 2010. The Orsay Museum is best known for its huge collection of impressionist art, primarily dating to the period from 1848 to 1915.  On my way to the museum I stopped off for some coffee and picked up a chocolate éclair as well. As my journey to the Orsay continued, I happened to pass by Angelina’s, famous for its hot chocolate, and I could not resist.  I took the extremely thick, rich hot chocolate to go, strolled slowly through the Tuileries on the way, and arrived at the museum at about noon.  Since the Orsay is closed on Monday, the line was huge.  I joined the line that had formed and finally entered the museum after a one-hour wait.  I paid my admission, which was a few Euros less than I expected, but shortly found out why………..parts of the museum are under renovation and therefore closed, thus the reduced entry fee. To my very extreme disappointment, I found out that the floor that housed the extensive impressionist works of Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Cezanne, was the section that was closed!  I cannot even describe how disappointed I was, since this is what I have been looking so forward to seeing.  I did thoroughly enjoy my museum visit, as they did have some of the works of Degas, Cezanne, and Manet on display, as well as most of the works of Van Gogh and Gauguin. I spent almost 3 hours absorbing everything, including the post-impressionist art collection. Perhaps, the fact that the impressionist section of the museum was closed worked to my advantage………now I have an excuse to shortly return to Paris! By 4 PM I was on my way back to the hotel for some rest. After resting a bit, it was raining outside, so I just went out to get some dinner and returned to the hotel earlier than normal.  Wandering any city in the rain is not enjoyable.