Steps today: 23 445. SO CLOSE to my goal! Under normal circumstances I would do some room laps to get to 25K, it’s only 15 minutes, but the room is too small!
Today marks the halfway point in my vacation… How can it be!?!?!?!!?
There was rain in the forecast today, so I planned to do indoor activities.
First on the agenda was the Louvre museum. When I left the hotel it had not started raining yet, so I took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and decided to walk as far down the Champs Elysees and Tuillerie Gardens as I could get before it started. Lucky me it didn’t rain at all so I was able to walk the entire way. It was almost deserted on a Sunday morning!
I figured many other tourists would have the same idea as me: Rain = Louvre, but I had no idea what I was in for! The line ups were unbelievable!!! Pictures don’t do it justice… it was laughable! Needless to say I was NOT going to get in line, my time is too precious. It was just after 9:30 and it was already an estimated 2 hours. Forget it!
Instead, I went to Sainte-Chappelle where there were no line ups at all. They say it’s best to see it when the sky conditions are bright yet overcast, and admittedly it might have been a little too cloudy, and therefore dark, but I didn’t care. It was my 3rd (4th?) visit to this site and I loved it just as much. This time I wanted to read the “how-to” guide for reading the glass panels but I quickly gave up that endeavour… it’s impossible. I couldn’t distinguish anything.
Next was the Eugene Delacroix Museum – nothing special; I didn’t even take pictures. It was so boring I wonder now if I missed something… was there a treasure trove of great art behind a hidden door? It was also free today for some reason (I did not ask) so my Museum Pass is not saving me a ton of Euros this time!! This makes 2 sites that I show-up for on “Free Day”. Regular price is 7€. Not worth it.
The rain had picked up by then, so I wanted some shelter. Still too soon for lunch, I thought I’d go to the Brasserie Lipp for an aperitif. They were closed. Then l thought its been a few trips that l haven't been to Café de Flore, but there was a lineup to go in!! NOPE. So, l went back to Les Deux Magots.... just me and my birdy buddy.
The RELAIS DE L’ENTRECOTE was only a few blocks away so I decided on that place for lunch. This is one of my favourite restaurants chains in Paris. Not just for the food, but for the superlative service. These women are MACHINES!!! It’s really unbelievable.... and delicious!! Its an assembly line of efficiency.
The rain had stopped after lunch, so I walked across town for a coffee at Café de la Paix – a place I keep saying I am done with, but keep going back to!
Once fortified, it was on to the Musée Nissim de Camondo which was the sightseeing highlight of my day. I loved it! In a oversimplified nutshell: Once upon a time there was a man who’s kids didn’t want his stuff in the early 1900s so he donated his mansion and everything in it to turn into a museum. I found it really interesting to see how the rich aristocrats lived as opposed to the Royals. This even included a view of the kitchens and bathrooms which you never get to see in Palace Tours. It was like a French Downton Abbey.
When I left the museum, the rain was decidedly over but the skies were still overcast so conditions were perfect for the roof of the Arc de Triomphe. The last time I went up, it was on a sunny day so half my picture are hazy. This way, the skies may be white but the horizons were clear.
What to do after this? All the dots in on my map in that area were either museums or restaurants and I was not in the mood for either – so I took the metro across town to knock some miscellaneous sites off my list.
Le Defenseur du Temps:
The Oldest House in Paris dating back to 1407:
This is also said to be the oldest house, but I did not see a plaque…
This intersing facade:
By 6:30, it was time to head back to my neighbourhood and have supper… all I could do was muster up the appetite for a chicken salad, but my meal was great thanks to striking up a conversation with the couple at the next table. It was a really enjoyable evening!
Here are more random shots of my day:
Art? Or Vandalism?
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