Paris, take 2

day 24 – jour vingt-quatre

Today was a much better day, probably because we actually ate food. Plus we’re starting to get more comfortable getting around the city. Due to our indecision early on in the planning processs for this trip, today we had to move to a different Airbnb. Still in the Marais district but a little further north. So first thing this morning we got our bags all repacked and ready for us to grab when we came back later this afternoon.

We left the apartment around 930 am and started the day off right by getting these delicious treats at a nearby shop. I wish I had the time and motivation to make desserts/breakfasts like this all the time. Mmmmmmmm. Those are salmon quiches and I don’t remember what the raspberry deliciousness was called. It was a little difficult to eat with a fork because the top was so flaky.

After breakfast, we hopped on the metro and went to the Musée d’Orsay. I’d decided to get a carnet (10 metro tickets) when we’d first arrived in Paris so we didn’t have to mess with buying tickets each time we wanted to go somewhere. The metro here works much the same as it did in Milan. The trickiest bit being that we had to know the name of the last stop so that we’d go the right direction on the metro. I’m really comfortable navigating which metro to get on and off, etc., but apparently I still can’t figure out how to exit the metro station in the spot I want; every time we head ‘home’, we end up on a different corner of the intersection.

By the time we got to the Musée d’Orsay, it was close to 11:30. Prior to being a museum, the Orsay was a train station. The main room, if you can call it that, is filled with sculptures and is open the full 5 story height of the building. Smaller rooms full of art branch off from this main thoroughfare. Once again, we used one of Rick Steves’ audio tours to guide us through this huge collection. The main attraction for us to this museum was their collection of Impressionist art. We moved through the sculptures fairly quickly so that we could spend more time with the artists we recognized/Mom had studied in college. I appreciate the study of art, but I was simply interested in what I found visually appealing. I couldn’t tell you who painted what, for the most part.

It’s a shame that the naked human body has become so sexualized and scandalous in our culture. There used to be so much art celebrating it’s beauty and form in reverence, not at all perverse to my eye. (I’m ignoring that prostitutes probably served as models quite often – although that just goes to say who was comfortable in their own skin enough to bare it all).

Mom almost completely missed the Rodin sculptures (above) because they were around the corner from the stairway back down. It was almost 4 pm by the time we scooted out of the Orsay and we were thoroughly saturated with art for the day. Even Mom had enough. On our way out we realized we’d skipped a whole series of rooms on the bottom floor so we breezed through just in case there was another artist we recognized. There were many times in the museum when I lost sight of Mom in the crowds. I’d move along by myself for a couple rooms and then backtrack to find her again. I don’t think it’s too far from the truth to say she’d be pretty lost if she didn’t have me to navigate for us (and I’d be in a mad panic if I lost her).

We’d told Juliana we’d be back to grab our bags by 4, so we moved along at a clip back to the metro and back to her place. After seeing it from other bridges so many times, we finally crossed the pedestrian bridge over the Seine. It’s guardrails were absolutely packed with lover’s locks. I wonder if the city ever has to go through and remove them all purely due to the extra stress they’re putting on the bridge. Thousands of little locks could definitely add significant weight. From the bridge we also had a great view back of the Orsay.

A few blocks later, as we were approaching this statue, “this guy looks kinda mean” – Mom. Guess who? It’s a statue of Winston Churchill. Hah!

We felt bad that we were so late back to Juliana’s. She’d carried our bags up a couple more flights of stairs to her home so that her next occupant could move into the Airbnb. We collected our things and said farewell. It would have been fun to spend more time with her. I hauled Mom’s rolly bag back down the few flights of stairs, and we were off to our next home. It was only a handful of blocks away so we decided to walk instead of taking the metro for the same amount of time. Again I studied our route on my phone and it looked pretty straightforward. A few blocks later we had somehow taken a wrong street and ended up a few blocks out of our way. What’s new. Just a little extra sightseeing. When we got to Rue Reamuer, we got a little nervous… It was by far the busiest street we’d stayed on throughout the whole trip. Although it doesn’t entirely make sense to me as far as space efficiency, I love how French buildings have courtyards off the main roads, and doors to residences from those courtyards. On Rue Reamuer, there was an abundance of jewelry stores, restaurants, etc, but between each shop there are these large doors that lead to the courtyards. Not sure the history or reason, but I’m noticing more and more doors have the door knobs in the middle of the door, not on the edge like we’re used to. We have to type in our code to gain entry to the door and it clicks open. These main doors have tended to be quite heavy as well. Once in the courtyard I had to refer back to our Airbnb check-in page, locate our door, and figure out the lockbox to get a key out. India, our new host, wasn’t home when we arrived a little after 6 pm. This time, we’re just renting a room in her apartment, with shared utilities. From the courtyard, India’s door opens up right to a skinny spiral staircase. She doesn’t allow shoes in the house, so Mom and I had to do a little awkward shuffle to get in the door, get our shoes off, and get our bags up the stairs. This was definitely a one-at-a-time ordeal. I can’t imagine moving anything bigger than one person could carry up those stairs…yikes.

Once on the little landing at the top of the stairs, the kitchen and our room is to the left, India’s room straight ahead, and toilet to the right. We went ahead and got ourselves settled. The shower in her apartment is this funny little narrow passageway from our room back to the stairs. It’s accessible from either end which is convenient. I suppose you have to get really creative when you have so little space to work with! India’s kitchen was very creative, with a very custom metal counter-top and lots of unique organization. She had a little stack of CDs on the counter, which we later found out are to be used as coasters! Mom and I were getting extremely hungry so we took one of India’s suggestions and headed for a little restaurant that was less than a block away.

First sign that the food was going to be good: the menu was all in French. The place was right on the corner so they had a little seating area inside and tiny tables for two along the exterior that just barely left room for someone to walk by on the sidewalk. The waitress who came to help us was very cute and probably not a whole lot older than I am. She didn’t speak a ton of English, just enough to briefly describe the menu so we could choose a dish. I went with a white fish with pesto and Mom chose a beef stew. And a glass of wine for each of us. The food came quickly, appearing in a dumbwaiter on the other side of the room. We deduced that the kitchen must be downstairs. It would be amazing to see a 3D map of subterranean Paris. Both dishes were delicious but I think my fish was just a tad bit more flavorful. I tried to savor it and make it last but I was so hungry…

We beat India back to the apartment after dinner but she returned a little while later. She moved to Paris almost 30 yrs ago from the states. She was an engineer and came over for a three month job but decided to move permanently.

We tried to come up with sketchy plans for tomorrow, but I am so tired my brain is on strike. We’ve established that India’s routine is sleep in and stay up late so we got the down low on the coffee (French press, but just called a press here) for the morning. For now it is to bed for me. I’m still kind of fighting off a cold so I need all the sleep I can get.