Kathy and I were up for - and accomplished a lot of Paris sightseeing today. First off to the Musee d'Orsay - another of my favourite Paris museums. Again, we got there early (on the Metro) and avoided what was becoming a huge line up with our Paris Museum Passes. Lots of course to see there - including many Rodin scultures and many paintings by Monet (water lillies), Degas (ballerinas), Renoir (paris street scenes), Gauguin (naked Polynesian women), etc. It is truly a wonderful collection of great art.
We then wandered over to the Hotel des Invalides. When I say "wander" what I really mean is that we walked very quickly, which as said by the people I know, if the usual fast pace that I walk! Apparently, its genetic (my grandmother did the same and Kathy tells me that Roddy does also) so I can't help myself. Anyway, we had a lot of ground to cover so it was required!!
The "Hotel" is not really a hotel but a grand building created by Louis XIV to house the many men of his armies who came back wounded and homeless. This building is dedicated to the armies of France - and includes museums dedicated to their full history and regalia. One of my guide books describes these museums as one of the most comprehensive re military history in the world - which must say something about the war mongering of the French!
On one side, it included the many weapons and clothing of the French armies - including sabres - from the time of the king Louis' to Napoleon III. This part had items dating back to Napoleon I - and Kathy and I were pretty sure that the white horse there which was said to be Napoleon's was stuffed!!
On the other side of the square was a museum dedicated to the French armies from the late 1880s to the end of WWII - which was very fitting and interesting given my recent trip to Normandy with Alan, Conor and Ben. The WWII part included a lot of war footage and also some of the concrete barriers that were placed along the beaches to prevent landings - and which the Allied soldiers hid behind to attempt being shot by the Germans. We did not get as much time as I liked so I may have to go back and take in more of it. As expected, the French dealt with their role in the war (before June, 1944) in a very delicate manner - and not unexpectedly, they did not concede in this museum that they were, as Homer Simpson put it, "cheese eating surrender monkeys"! In fact, they said that they fought the Germans "a la mort" but they had not properly read the signs and prepared their defence against them. Needless to say, they had footage of General Charles de Gaulle arriving back in Paris and parading down the Champs Elysees.
After these museums, we turned to the Crown jewel of the Invalides, the Dome Church, which initially to be a church for the French kings but instead ended up as the final resting place for French military heros - including the most famous war mongerer of all time, Napoleon. His is of course an interesting story - after being banished/exiled to Elba where he remained to his death in 1821, the later king brought him back in 1861 where his body was encased in 6 coffins including the fancy red one pictured here. Kathy was of course happy to finally see some really dead people in the crypt.
The Rodin Museum is right next to Invalides so we popped over there. Rodin revolutionized sculpture - and much of his collection is in an old hotel where he used to reside. Alan and I had earlier toured the Museum earlier in the week so Kathy took in The Thinker (pictured here), the Gates of Hell and finally, The Kiss, a very intimate piece.
The next port of call was the Musee National du Moyen Age, which houses middle age stuff, including the Lady with the Unicorn tapestries.
The Pantheon was built in the late 1700s originally to be a church, but was then converted into one large crypt - to house the remains of France's "good and great" (excluding the military guys who are in the Dome church (see above). Dead people here include Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Alexandre Dumas (sorry - missed the "S" on the last name!) and finally, Marie Curie.
Close to this museum was the Luxembourg gardens, a very large park with beautiful ponts and flower beds. It is a wondeful green space to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. The gardens are very "french" in that they are structured and sculpted to a "t" (note in the picture below how there are sculpted hedge "bows" along the pond).
Our next visit was to the Pantheon, which again considering Kathy's interest in dead people, was a good choice!!
Our (next to) final stop was a necessity for Kathy - in that my brother Roddy is a Harley Davidson fanatic - how many t-shirts with "HD" on it do you own? Anyway, we got in the shop near the Bastille - through high security - to do some shopping. Mission accomplished in finding another t-shirt for my big brother.
After final, final stop was of course a little french cafe to have a cocktail and de-brief after a hard day of tromping the streets of Paris.
We also discovered this lovely little bistro later for dinner - L'Epouvantail at 6 rue de Jarente - just a few blocks from my apartment. Turned out that it was quite full just after we arrived around 8 pm with people who had reservations - and the food was great. A great find and highly recommended.
Tomorrow is to be more of a day of rest - which, after going to church (Notre Dame and now St. Sulpice) the last couple of days, is somewhat fitting.
