Our introduction to this city of lovers was far from romantic. We had planned on a leisurely Seine-side meander and arrived at our starting point at place de la Concorde in pouring rain! With only one umbrella between us (that was romantic) we made our way across this gigantic square navigating a busy intersection clogged with huge tourist buses, so that you could hardly see the other side of the street. When the rain let up, we made our way across to the Musee d’Orsay – home of France’s national art collection from the impressionist, post impressionist and art nouveau movements. This museum was once a railway station! Bob can’t get enough of Cezanne and I took it all in – Pissarro, Sisely, Monet, Renoir and Manet. I’ve learned so much about art from Bob – he is like a walking encyclopedia during such visits. Another great museum which we thoroughly enjoyed and loved was the Musee National D’Art Moderne at Centre Pompidou. The collection here highlighted leading 20th century artists such as Brancusi, Braque, Delaunay, Duchamp, Kandinsky, Miro, Picasso and Pollock to name a few. We did not check out the Louvre – I had visited this museum many years ago and we were not eager to stand in line!
The other wonderful aspect of Paris to us was exploring neighborhoods like the Latin Quarter, Montmartre, Marais and Bastille. What struck us about the city is how grand and grandiose the buildings are. It’s all larger than life. One absolute favorite: French food!!! We loved the bakeries and restaurants. We had an amazingly delicious and very memorable meal at a restaurant called Au Gout Du Jour at 12 rue Beaugrenelle. http://www.au-gout-dujour.com/ Our host was French philosopher Jerome Pelletier and his lovely wife Florence. We also met the chef! What a night! Another French restaurant we tried was Benoit at 20, rue Saint Martin. http://www.benoit-paris.com/ The food and service was outstanding to say the least. I think we have to start making more French food ourselves!
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