Realism -- Autumn in Paris 2

We were picked up at the hotel at 09.15 and arrived at the city centre after almost an hour.  The chauffeur dropped us off at the Place de la Concorde, except for those who wanted to go to Euro Disney.  For those who got off at the Place de la Concorde, it was each man for himself.  We had about 11 hours till the pick-up agreement, which was 21.00.  I wasn't going to waste any of those hours.

First stop was the Place de la Vendome.  Where was it and what was to be seen there?  All of that is Googleable.  Sufficient for me to say that it is a wealthy area (the Ritz and all that) and there's this really large obelisk-like monument at the centre of it, made of cannons captured by Napoleon after various victories.  There's an extra.

Then the first objective of the day -- the Opera Garnier.  That was a 'Wow!' place.  I couldn't get tired of it.  It's fairly new, being only about 150 years old, built smack in the middle of La Belle Epoch.  While I was busy walking around and gasping in amazement at all the (real) gold and carved detail and frescoed ceilings, plus a real Chagall in the main auditorium, I was already planning to designate one of the shots for the main post.  There's an extra.  I spent about 1.5 hours there, and then had lunch at Café de la Paix nearby, which cost half the earth but was oh so worth it -- mushroom soup as I'd never tasted it before, followed by a club sandwich that melted in my mouth and made me wish it would never end, plus a glass of fresh orange juice.  What I particularly enjoy about the French is that they never rush a meal, so the food is prepared in such a way that you are inspired to take your time and savour it.  I would say that the lunch complimented the visit to the Garnier.  It would be lovely to get the chance to attend an evening at the opera there, but what am I thinking ... ?

The main shot was chosen, though, from the final stop of the day -- the Musee d'Orsay, across the Seine from the Louvre, and the walk through the Tuileries did me good after the mouth-watering lunch.  What a revelation!  I spent three and a half hours walking leisurely down the main hall with all the sculptures, and then went through most of the galleries, one after another, like you do when you're window-shopping, floor after floor, room in room out.  I sat about three times in total, so my legs felt shattered, but I did not feel that till much later, when I was outside again.  The last gallery I made sure to view was the van Gogh exhibit.  I have seen all the van Goghs, but the last time was 28 years ago, when they were all brought together to celebrate the centenary of his death, and I remember going to Amsterdam and Otterlo just to see them.  Not all of them are at the Orsay, of course, but they were the star of the entire museum.  Everyone wanted to gaze at and pose in front of Starry Night, so it was quite crowded even though it was approaching closing time.  My camera battery was totally empty, so I switched to my phone and used up its battery, too.  There was no more time to view the special Picasso exhibit but I didn't mind as I was too tired.  Sour grapes -- Picasso isn't a favourite of mine anyway ... hahaha!

The main shot was taken on my way out.  Someone should have put a mobile phone on the marble figure.  I just had a good quiet laugh.

Dinner was at a more ordinary (read: less pricey) café where the TV was showing a football match, and I was way on time for the bus.  The bus, though, was a little late because of traffic coming from Euro Disney.  We also heard that the bus had been entered and the chauffeur's wallet stolen, with all his money, cards, and instructions.  We do not leave our personal belongings in the bus and so some of us wondered why he did that, experienced as he was.  There were also a couple of latecomers, one of them a full hour late, so we had to return from the short evening tour to pick them up.  Really, some folks have no sense of time and do not think of consequences.

A good day for me but I was totally, totally finished by the time I entered my room.