Friday morning we went first to the Orangerie where Shelly and I bought two day museum passes. Mara could go anywhere for free. The Orangerie is where many of Monet's waterlily paintings are. Huge paintings that cover an entire wall, quite lovely. On the way to our next stop, we passed by the Canadian Culture Center. They were having an exhibit by diorama artist Diana Thomeycraft, someone none of us had heard of, but we all found very interesting. Next stop, Rodin. It had been renovated quite a bit since my last visit some time in the 80's, but the inside portion was still very old and run down, just the way I like it. All the important, famous sculptures are there. We had a nice lunch in the garden and then left Mara back at the hotel for a much needed rest after the fast paced school tour. Shelly and I went to the Pantheon and then a quick trip to the Cluny Museum which was just a few blocks from our hotel. Both were quite nice. We picked up Mara and went out for another lovely 3 course meal and made an early night of it.
The next morning, our first destination was Notre Dame for a climb to the top to see the gargoyles. Very exciting to be up close and personal with such famous "beings". St. Chapelle was our next stop. It is a Gothic chapel with two levels, the lower for ordinary people with beautifully painted walls and the upper level with ornate stained glass for the nobility. From there, we went to the Concergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned. On the way to our next stop, we walked along the Seine, where they installed a beach for the Parisians who couldn't get out of town for a vacation.
We went to the Decorative Arts museum next and saw some very cool stuff including some of Ralph Loren's car collection. We had lunch at a carnival that was just down the street and then went in search of the Delacroix museum. It was tucked away and very difficult to find, but worth the trouble. We rushed back to the Cluny museum to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries that we missed out on yesterday. Our final museum of the day was the Pompedue Center. It was fun to see some modern art for a change and there were also some great views of the city from the upper floors. Just before sunset, we went to the Arc du Triumph and climbed to the top. The sunset was beautiful and it was fun to see the lights of Paris, especially when the Eiffel tower started to sparkle.
