La Bonne Vie

Our hotel room, although the size of a large closet, even has a very small balcony which we can sit on overlooking some typically Parisienne street life, cafes and terraces (tres chic :- D)

We’ve thrown ourselves into Paris with abandon combining some regular touristy stuff with some “haute culture”.

Over our 3 days here we’ve visited Note Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel tower, Montmartre and Le Sacre Coeur as well as “La Musée du Moyen Age” (Museum of the Middle Ages) which contains the famous “Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries” and of course the Louvre. We resisted the obvious of going to see the Mona Lisa and instead opted ( well Annelies opted seeing as I’m the original cultural barbarian who can’t tell the difference between a Reuben and a Robin) to go and see the old Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer and Reubens to mention but a few.
The Louvre is truly a stunning and massive edifice. The entrance via the famous glass pyramid was very impressive. Underneath the pyramid it houses 2 floors all excavated out out into separate underground galleries. These in turn take you up into the main Louvre buildings ( the open quadrangle that surrounds the pyramid) via escalators. It’s all very modern and yet quite harmonious with these centuries old buildings.

We also visited Le Musee d’Orsay which houses an impressive collection of Impressionist paintings by Cezanne, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Manet, Gauguin and van Gogh. Being able to see these famous art pieces so close up was even for me exciting. They were truly spectacular. The museum building itself was also impressive. It was a former railway station but even the restaurant was a 19th century fantasy spectacular with gilt edged encrusted decorated mirrors , chandeliers and classical sculptures … the prices weren’t 19th century though … £8.50 for a piece chocolate cake !

That said I could definitely get into Paris cafe culture. All our meals have been gastronomic delights and our many cafe breaks where you can sit and watch the world go by with a “boisson froid” have been delightful.

On the balconyLa Tour EiffelLa Tour EiffelThe LouvreThe LouvreThe LouvreRembrandtJan van Steen paintingBreakfast cafe culture!La Sacre CoeurMont Martre Artists at workMont Martre Artists at workMore cafe culture!Les Abbesses Underground StationMusee d'Orsay InteriorMusee d'Orsay RestaurantMusee d'Orsay Panorama