Day 7 - Le Anniversary / Day 8 - Le Musees

Day 7 - Le Anniversary

Yes, finally the day that we had arranged years ago to spend in Paris had arrived. And so we decided to spend our 10th anniversary like everyone else, and tramp through underground tunnels looking at piles of dead bodies.

In other words, we visited the Paris Catacombs. And I can tell you, it's not for the faint of heart - the piles of bones and skulls in the Ossuary are fine it's the spiral staircase at the end that's a killer. Probably literally too, as I noticed they had a defibrillator unit on standby at the exit.

Here are some photos that were salvageable under the light conditions:

We had lunch in a nearby Montparnasse bistro - the word "nearby" is fairly superfluous when applied to Paris bistros, in fact I'm sure there's more on the street outside now, then there was when we arrived. Hopefully a spore will find its way into our luggage, and escape Quarantine when we get home.

After the passion and romance of the Catacombs we thought we should balance our day with a boat tour of the Seine, or rather the bits that don't have public housing. In retrospect, we were lucky the day was overcast as our eyes may have thought that they'd seen all the beauty they were ever going to see and end their own existence in despair.

Let's see if your eyes suffer the same existential nightmare, shall we?

Finally it was off to the brasserie we discovered on our second day for sumptious meal with as much champagne as we could stand (i.e. half a bottle.)

I will draw a veil over the last hours of our 10th anniversary as the champagne had extended to us that very same courtesy.



Day 8 - Le Musees

Today we walked around the block to find another cluster of bistros had broken out. We would have notified the authorities, but they were already there, helping themselves to brioches, pain au chocolat and other comestibles my spell check fails to accommodate.

Today was a herculean challenge: we were going to attempt two museums in the one day. The Musee d'Orsay and the Musee de l'Orangerie. One is a converted railway station and the other is a converted, um, orangerie.

There are galleries around the d'Orsay with their own work on display:

The Musee d'Orsay is my favourite museum in Paris. So far, as there are countless others that I've artfully hidden from Llyn (by re-editing websites, carefully removing guide book pages, and the application of large tarpaulins with bistro frontages printed on them.) It boasts the largest collection of impressionists and post-impressionists in the world. I have to say, I was underwhelmed by the post impressionists as they were just a bunch of guys in berets standing perfectly still.

The Musee d'Orsay is also civilized enough to open part of its roof to visitors, with a sandwich cart providing a cheap(ish) lunch.

After a small break to convince our feet to talk to us again, we marched them to the Musee de l'Orangerie, just over the river Seine.

There are two exhibitions at l'Orangerie but we only saw one. In fact, after the d'Orsay, I was getting worried that my eyes were once again considering they'd outlived their usefulness. It was a close run thing as lurking in l'Orangerie are two large rooms completely devoted to the proper display of Monet's Waterlilies. The effect set my eyes muttering darkly to each other as to whether there was any more beauty to perceive or whether they should just chuck it in now. Fortunately our feet were too far away to hear them. Especially after the long walk back to the flat.