Paris Museum Day

November 3rd- Our last day in Paris

We woke up early considering that we got to bed so late. We ate at the hotel for breakfast. We discovered our route in the metro to go to the Rodin museum. Today would be a day for museums. The Rodin was very interesting. He was very controversial for his time and it easy to see why, his sculptures are very primal. They look very life like and are not to graceful. Impressive and strong but not graceful and dignified for sure. We passed through the plasters and then went out to the gardens to see the bronzes. It was very impressive. Most of the sculptures were for some gate that he had been commissioned to create but was never finished. The sculptures, including the thinkers were all patterned after Dantes work reflecting hell. It was very dark indeed but beautiful and emotional as well. At the end we took a picture of the gates and headed to where else? The gift shop.
We headed back to the hotel because I left my Paris Pass, then decided to go to the Louvre and sit in our first French Café. We were able to do both. We sat outside and watched everyone go by. It would have been better if there were no smoking but you can actually smoke in the café, but we sat right through it. We took pictures of the Louvre from the café. I had a quiche and wine and mom had vegetable soup. It came out as a puree but it was still quite tasty. Afterward we headed over to the Louvre. We took pictures of the pyramids and then realized we showed up on day it was closed. Most museums are closed on Mondays in France but the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and so we missed it. : ( We regrouped and decided to find the impressionist museum instead. We had to brave the metro again and

figure out how to get there. After going round the block once I got my bearings and we were able to walk through a Parisienne park and find the museum. It had several collections that had been donated. We were about to leave and a tried one of the rooms and found the actual exhibits. They had a whole level of Monet paintings. They also had several impressionist artists that I had never seen before that were impressive as well. We headed out with a plan for a walk around the Iles de Paris. There are the central islands of Paris where the original tribes that Paris was named after lived on. Also, all the bridges. It is where Notre Dame is. Anyway, there was a walk and a restaurant and that was the plan. We first wandered by the Shakespeare bookstore which was owned by Hemmingway which is still owned by his daughter, then we began our walk. It took us first to the star in front of Notre Dame that all distances in Paris are measured from. Then we headed around Notre Dame to the famous Bethillion, a café/restaurant, which is suppose to have the best ice cream. We were also looking for a restaurant so we decided to come back. We found a sit down place and had a parisienne dinner. I had the Parmesan Souffle with the Risotto and sea scallops with a chocolate mousse for dessert. Mom had a baked eggplant dish with roast chicken and pasta with the crème brulee. It was very delicious and after we finished the wine we tried to finish our walk. We didn’t make it to the end but we enjoyed the Island and walked along the Sienne then headed back for rest.