Pont de la Concorde

Wow, what a day! Neither one of us slept well last night but that didn’t stop us, no siree. After our customary morning pain au chocolat, we caught the #69 bus across town to the Musée d’Orsay, one of my favorite places on the planet. Apparently other people have heard of it, too. The line to get in was huuuuuge, despite having timed entry tickets. We waited about 40 chilly minutes, winding through the line while chatting with a Parisian woman who confirmed that this crowd was quite a bit bigger than normal.

Once inside, we headed to the top floor to bask in the view through the giant clock windows toward Sacré Cœur. It’s really hard to stop taking pictures, especially on a sunny day. So magical.

We toured all the floors and nearly all the galleries including the temporary Edward Munch exhibit. So much of his work is so depressing. Lots of depictions of people sick or dying, particularly children. Hard to look at.

We had lunch upstairs in the Cafe Campana which also features one of the delightful clock windows. We scored a table right next to it.

After several hours we left the museum and headed down the boulevard toward the Palais Royal. We’d made a spontaneous decision to take a nighttime boat ride along the Seine so on the way we browsed the numerous souvenir shops for an extra layer of clothing to keep warm. I bought a pink (raspberry?) beret and Ellen bought a hoodie with PARIS FRANCE on it. We’re wearing our tourist badge proudly.

The courtyard of the Palais Royal features a really fun sculpture installation of striped columns of varied sizes. There we lots of young children climbing, jumping, and running between them. A lively place.

We walked a bit further, along the crushed limestone parkway where people were walking their dogs or relaxing in chairs catching the last rays of sunshine along the tree lined allées. The leaves are starting to fall and the nights are getting chilly.

We stopped at a cafe for a cafe and a bite, then headed to Ponte Neuf to catch our boat. We donned our newly acquired tourist gear and got prime seats on the top deck. The sun had just set as the boat left the dock and we cruised under the illuminated bridges as the tour guide described their histories and pointed out sites along the shore. The highlight was reaching the Eiffel Tower just as the lights began to twinkle at the top of the hour.

After disembarking we walked along the Île de la Cité, across to Île Saint Louis, across Pont Louis Philippe, and back to our hotel. As we walked we could see dozens of runners coming up the riverfront path, apparently some sort of fun run event. The finish line was the bridge to Île Saint Louis which we were crossing just as the runners arrived. Kinda fun being swept up in the crowd for a few seconds.

Tomorrow is our last day in Paris. We have no plans yet, just thinking about packing and going home. We’ve created so many wonderful memories on this trip. I’m feeling grateful and wistful and tired and excited to be home soon.Read more