One Day in Paris

If you had just one day in the city, what would you do?  We started our day at the Musee d'Orsay, which Kevin missed last time we were here.  The Impressionist rooms were very crowded, but the rest of the museum was pretty empty (maybe because tomorrow is free museum Sunday?) so we just enjoyed looking at everything at our own pace.  The museum itself is one of my favorite buildings -- I love the open exhibit space with the huge clock (a holdover from when the building used to be a train station).

For lunch we went to our old stomping grounds, Rue Montorgueil, where we discovered that all our favorite establishments (the crepe restaurant, the beef bourgignon restaurant, and the best bakery) were all on vacation for the first part of August.  Crap.  I love that the French have this great concept of lots of vacation time, but not when it impacts me personally.  Not to worry, we had a nice lunch (with escargots, even) and enjoyed sitting outside watching the bustle of Rue Montorgueil.

A little further away, "Paris Plages" was in full swing.  Every summer, the city sets up temporary beaches in different parts of Paris. When we walked by the Hotel de Ville, we saw several beach volleyball games in progress.  And along the Seine were the usual sun umbrellas and beach chairs.

After lunch, Kevin wanted to check out Notre Dame just "one more time" so that was next up.  Lots of people had the same idea.  The line to get in was pretty long, but moved fast.  Here is a photosphere Kevin made of the courtyard (you can use your mouse to see the 360 degree view): 

Views: Notre Dame, Paris by Kevin Salt

We didn't have any more "must-sees" on our list, since we'd mostly done everything we wanted to do (and more!) during the ten weeks we were here last time.  We bought a French SIM card and had some heavenly hot chocolate at Angelina.  We also managed to squeeze in a stop at a fruit vendor where I bought a few of my favorite fruits in the world - Reine Claudes (greengage plums).  I wish they sold these in grocery stores back home; they are so sweet and refreshing -- a perfect summer treat.