Paris: Day 2

August 2, 2009

Our day started off with the tastiest omelets paired with café au lait at Café de l’Ecritoire and then it was off for a morning at the Orsay and Rodin museums. On our way, we passed through Place St. Michel. It’s a historical square within the Latin Quarter and has been the site of many revolutions, citizens fighting against their oppressors. Thus, it was only appropriate to take Michael’s picture in Place St. Michel in front of the St. Michel statue.

The Orsay has a huge collection of Impressionist art that’s housed in a former train station. Think Monet, Renoir, Degas, and Van Gogh. I’ve always loved Degas’ s ballerinas, maybe because the same prints lined the walls of my childhood dance studio. Van Gogh’s collection was our favorite as hubby and I both gained a greater appreciation for his works after seeing them in person. The colors and brush strokes pop so much more.

The Rodin museum contains sculptures by Auguste Rodin and his student Camille Claudel. The building itself is a mansion where Rodin lived and worked, creating most of the pieces we saw. There is something special about when art is showcased within the space of its creation. I’ll call it a boost in my art appreciation. In addition to the mansion, there was a pleasant garden area. Rodin’s most famous work is The Thinker and he was displayed picturesquely among roses. After visiting Michaelango’s David in Florence, I gained a new liking for sculpture and this museum just increased it. Rodin’s biggest influence was actually Michaelango and it shows.

Between the museum hopping, hubby and I grabbed a “walking lunch” meaning we ordered baguette sandwiches and drinks from a window and ate while walking. I felt like a local-on-the-go or at the very least a cheap tourist with a go-go-go attitude.

After our morning of museums, we paused for reflection and beer on the Ile de la Cité before heading to visit Sainte-Chapelle and Notre Damé. To us, having a beer before visiting churches is always a good idea…

Photos can not relay the beauty of Sainte-Chapelle. The contrast of the exterior’s gray concrete with the interior’s colorful stained glass is unreal. The amount of stained glass is simply overwhelming. I can best describe it as being inside a kaleidoscope. The scenes in the panels are from the Bible and King Louis IX had Sainte-Chapelle built as a shrine to display the crown of thorns.

Notre Damé (Our Lady) is Paris’s iconic church and was built by its own people. It’s massive, covered with gargoyles, and has two distinct towers visible from other points in Paris. We happened to catch an ongoing Catholic mass and the wafting incense. Oh! Quick! Get the camera! Quasi Modo sighting…

We paused for a café and stumbled upon Shakespeare and Company Bookstore. It’s a famous shop, started by American Sylvia Beech, where writers such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce all came to borrow books and meet other aspiring writers. I found it super cozy with wall-to-ceiling books and a white shop cat. I bought two books which are set in Paris: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell. A Moveable Feast describes the lifestyle of a struggling writer in Paris during the 1920’s and even makes a reference to the bookshop!

It was now dinner time and we found a family style place called Restaurant Polidor. It had long shared tables with a loud and lively atmosphere. Afterwards, we made our way back to Notre Dame for an evening climb to the top. There were 400 or so stairs that were narrow and spiraling. The view of Paris and the gargoyles made the trek totally worth it. We tried to wait at the top to catch the Eiffel Tower’s light show, but security began ushering us back down the stairs before it started. On the way down, we found a hidden window and once again witnessed the Towers dancing lights.