Paris France
After having breakfast in the hotel breakfast room, Linda
and I walked to the Rodin Museum. Although neither of us are into sculptures, I
wanted to see the Thinker, and the Rodin Museum was on our Museum pass, so we
wouldn’t have to pay extra for admission.
We arrived at the museum at the time that it was supposed to
open according to the museum website, our museum pass, and the book I had, but
found out the museum now opened 30 minutes later. We wound up going into a café
across the street to get something to drink while we waited.
As it got close to opening time for the museum, we made our
way back to the museum, and a line of about 50 people had formed, including a
group of teenage students. We got in the line, and it took forever to get in
the museum. It took at least 15 minutes for us to make it through the line.
We soon made our way out to the garden and saw the Thinker.
We took some pictures, and walked around checking the Thinker out. It was
really neat seeing such a famous sculpture in person.
We then walked into the old mansion that housed the
collection of Rodin’s sculptures. The building itself was old, but had a lot of
character. We also walked around more of the gardens.
We then headed out of the Rodin Museum to go to the D’Orsay
Museum. When we arrived, there was a huge line of hundreds of people waiting to
get in. I left Linda in line and went to find out if there was a line for
people with the museum pass, which thankfully there was a much shorter line, so
we got in that line, and were in the museum in less than 10 minutes.
The museum was very crowded. Some of the rooms were so
crowded that you could barely walk through. It was really too crowded to enjoy
the museum, and truly appreciate the artwork, especially in the area where they
had most of the Rembrandts.
I realized our mistake after the fact. We went to the
D’Orsay on a day when the Louvre was closed, and I bet a lot of other people
went here on this day because some of the other museums were closed as well. The
D’Orsay just can’t handle the crowds it gets when the Louvre is closed.
The inside of the D’Orsay is beautiful, though. The building
is an old train station, so the ceilings above the main floor that houses most
of the sculptures is at least five or six stories tall, giving the museum a
light and airy feel. I was actually more impressed by the building then I was
by the artwork.
When we had our fill of the museum, we went to find some
place to have lunch. The cafes closest to the museum were crowded, of course,
so we wound up walking back to the Café Mucha since we had enjoyed it so much
the first time we went there. Linda wound up getting the omlette complete
again, and I decided to get the lasagna, which was served with salad. The
lasagna was excellent with a very tasty sauce.
We went back to the hotel for a break, and then wound up
heading over to the Pantheon. This was something neither of us had on our must
do list--we just didn’t think we’d have time to do everything we really wanted
to do, so it was a pleasant surprise to be able to fit this in.
The Pantheon building is very impressive. There were massive
doors into the building that were at least six stories high. The inside
featured some beautiful murals and statues. There was a massive pendulum in the
middle of the room.
The highlight of a visit to the Pantheon is a visit to the
crypts, where you can pay your respects to the famous French men and women who
were laid to rest here. There were many hallways off that lead to the crypts,
and there were signs outside each hallway so you would know who was there.
Amongst the people who were laid to rest here are Rousseau, Voltaire, Louis
Braille, Madame Curry, Alexander Dumas, and Victor Hugo.
 |
| Rousseau |
 |
| Voltaire |
 |
| Madame Currie |
 |
| Victor Hugo |
After leaving the crypts, we went for what I like to call a
train adventure. I wanted to check out the train station where we would be
going in the morning to catch our train to Disneyland so I could get a sense of
what it was like before we were dragging suitcases with us. We found our way to
the Auber Gare and I was happy to see lots of escalators and elevators so we
wouldn't have to lug our heavy suitcases down the stairs.
We wound up going out of the stations to see if we could
find someplace to have dinner. We were right at the Paris Opera house. The
massive building had some beautiful gold sculptures on top.
We walked back in the direction of our hotel, and didn’t
really see anyplace we felt like eating. We wound up hopping back to the
subway, and went back to our hotel. We decided to give the Café Solferino
another chance. Once again the service was slow even though the restaurant was
empty. Linda got French onion soup, which she enjoyed. Even though I had
lasagna for lunch, I decided to get lasagna for dinner as well. Every time we
walked by the Café Solferino, there were people eating the lasagna, so I
figured it must be pretty good. A family of four at a nearby table all were
eating it as well.
Well, I learned an important lesson that night. Just because
everyone is ordering something, it doesn’t mean that it’s good. The lasagna was
very bland, and it must have been frozen because though the sides were piping
hot, the middle of it was iced cold. I think I was served frozen microwave
lasagna. It was pretty bad, and I didn’t even feel like sending it back, so I
ate enough so I wouldn't be hungry.
We headed back to our hotel to pack, as we were heading to
Disneyland Paris in the morning. It had been a fun few days in Paris--we saw
more than I thought I would, and I loved every minute of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment