Paris - Days 1, 2 and 3

We had the smoothest travel experience in recent memory - flight left on time, we had 2 seats at the exit row (legroom!!!), the plane arrived 30 minutes early at 7 AM Paris time, the airport had NO lines and we were in our hotel room at 9 AM - amazing!  Some planning and some luck combined to make it so sweet.

Monday agenda was very light - nap, take a walk in Luxembourg Gardens, drink coffee to reset our body clocks and enjoy the Paris street scene.  Our room is just delightful at the Hotel Les Degres de Notre Dame.  We are on the 5th floor of a 17th century inn, 82 steps to the top.  Whew.  But the view is incredible with the cathdral de Notre Dame out the window - Peter is loving the zoom on his new travel camera:

We lasted through a lovely dinner at the hotel and absolutely slept the sleep of the tired traveler.

Tuesday presented some challenges as most museums are closed, and those that are open are usually packed.  After a lovely breakfast (good bread!) we visited the Pantheon to see Foucault's Pendulum and buy a 4-day museum pass. We then hiked over the Seine to the Musee Carnavalet - the museum covers the history of Paris, and is housed in two mansions that have 104 total rooms!  It was a bit overwhelming but a great way to get a feel for the city past and present.

We thought if we waited until early afternoon we could slip into the Musee D'Orsay (our favorite) but after a long walk to the site, the lines were horrendous - even for museum pass holders who can skip ticket lines!  So, we changed plans and enjoyed a late lunch near the Orsay, then headed back to the hotel.  We made reservations at a restaurant - "Le Pre Verre" - that we discovered when visiting in 2007, and we celebrated Peter's "real" 70th birthday in Paris having a delightful (and unusual) meal.

Here's the hotel, with the birthday boy standing in front:

Wednesday, aka "hump day" in our Paris adventure was, in retrospect, a bit too full even for us.  We set out to see the Delacroix Museum which was a bit hard to find (try hidden).  It was a little gem of rooms the artist inhabited as his apartment and studio in the last 6 years of his life. We then returned to the Orsay via some wonderful shopping streets - and we found our next great kitchen accessory:

Unfortunately it won't fit in my suitcase.

The Orsay was as delightful as we remembered, even though it is undergoing renovations and its collection is on limited display.  Fantastic Impressionist paintings, beautiful art-deco furniture and great sculpture.  Being gluttons for punishment we headed to the Eiffel Tower to see what the lines looked like to (perhaps) go to the top.  Alas, the lines were rather long and we made a unilateral decision to move on.  Plan B was to visit the Museum of French Architecture and we were rewarded with a life-size model of Le Corbusier's apartment design for the Unite d'Habitation, a building we had visited outside Marseilles some years ago - loved being able to actually experience the space!

With our dying legs we slogged to the Arc de Triomph and climbed 284 steps to get the incredible views, including the Champs d'Elysees:

As we had now used up any remaining leg power (how is it we can bike 60+ miles in a day but walking around Paris nearly kills us?) at the Arc, we caught the Metro nearby and rode it, packed in like sardines, to a stop fairly near our hotel.  After a reviving dinner of salad Nicoise and wine, it was back to the beloved room:

Thought I'd end with my favorite image of the day - thanks for reading!