Museums and Concert

Highlights: Musee D'Orsay, Sainte Chapelle, Shakespeare and Company, Jazz Concert with Robin McKellee

We had a good sleep again. The apartment was quiet even with the windows open. We had breakfast with yogurt, fruit, bread from the market and orange juice. Belinda got a call that her suitcase was in Paris - finally - and she made arrangements to have it delivered the next day. We put in our first laundry and went for a coffee at Cafe Cassette. We had a sunny table for two. I was startled by the waitress and we had a round of Bon Jour!, Bon Jour! Then we did a bit of shopping and went back to the apartment to hang the laundry.

We headed out and picked up two pain au raisin and viennoise chocolat. We walked easily to the Musee D'Orsay but discovered the line up to get in was at least 1/2 hour. We shared the pastries and took pictures. A quartet played music for the people in line.

We were in awe once we got inside. The museum was so grand and majestic and yet comfortable and accessible. We went straight up to the Impressionists - Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh, Gaughin and others. Belinda's system was to choose a side, go all the way down and return. It worked well and we took a leisurely pace. There was a sweet, well-dressed Italian couple who spoke in such an animated manner to each other about the art that I felt like crying.

We went for coffees and shared a ham and emmenthal baguette in the museum cafe and had a great conversation about Belinda's retirement plans.Time stood still.

Then we toured other areas of the museum until around 4:00 pm. We planned to take a scenic bus route #96 home. We crossed a pedestrian bridge covered in love locks. We discovered the #96 was packed so we changed our plans. We impulsively walked to Sainte Chapelle. I was better prepared than Belinda for the claustrophobic stairwells because Gary and I had climbed them on our trip to Paris. Belinda loved the stained glass and we decided to buy Vivaldi tickets for Sunday night.

We hopped on the metro home and got some OJ for Belinda who felt a cold coming on. We rested up for the jazz concert.

It was quite stressful figuring out the bus system to get us to the Institut Oceanagraphie so we flagged a taxi. We got to the concert with half an hour to spare but there was a long line as it was open seating. Inside was nice but really just padded pews. Robin McKellee was very good but her keyboard player was incredible. The concert was very loud at the end.

We walked home easily within 10 minutes. We had cheese, crackers and some wine and were in bed by midnight. Such a great, great day.Read more