More Paris, More Sun

Today was easily my favorite day so far.  I started out by walking down to Notre Dame this morning where I hopped on the boat that was part of my tour bus ticket.  It went one stop past ND and then turned around and headed back towards the action.  I stayed on all the way up the Seine and then back a few stops and got off at Musee d'Orsay.  For half the trip, I was the only one on the boat and for the rest I was the only one on the open air back part of the boat.  The boat has a glass top, but when you look up you see mostly bird poop and you can't take good pics through glass, so why sit in there?  It wasn't that cold most of the time.  Definitely colder after we turned around at the mini Statue of Liberty.  It was basically photopalooza while I was on the boat and I managed to facetime my mom along the way and show her some of the sights. So great!

I had planned to walk over to the Place de la Concorde and jump on the bus to Montmartre, but it was cold and I heard great things about Musee d'Orsay, so I decided to check what the line looked like.  Zero line!  So I popped in.  I feel that there should be a reduced rate for those of us who can take in an entire museum's collection in a fraction of the time it takes most people.  I am very much the jock from a hick town that I am in an art museum.  I stroll through at a pace only slightly slower than on the street and think things like, "pretty," "interesting," "WTF?"  I like art, but I just don't get anything out of pouring over it.  I know, I am unenlightened. What was really awesome about this museum was the actual building and the lunch I had at the café behind the big clock you see on the outside.  I had Quiche Lorraine and a lovely rose.  Yum!  The quiche was soooo good and the space was really cool.  As usual, the bread was also excellent.

I tried to get back on task and walked over to Place de la Concorde to board the bus to Montmartre.  I got a little sidetracked by pretty things and stumbled upon the Paris Ritz, of Diana and Dodi fame (I'm sure they thought they were famous before that, but I didn't know about them so....).  I had to check it out - unfortunately, I didn't have to go to the bathroom.  Lost opportunity.  It was pretty nice and I can't say I dislike the way the staff in joints like that treat me.  I assume they are 99% sure I am not a guest, but they can't be totally sure without asking and if they ask and I turn out to be someone like the Tiffani Trump of my wealthy family, they're screwed.  So, they treat me like I'm classy.  It's nice.  :) 

Looking sketchy in the Ritz Gallery.

Anyway, back to the bus.  By the time we got through the Parisian traffic to Sacre Coeur, I was worried that there wasn't time to get up to the cathedral, look around, and get back down in time for the last bus of the day out of Montmartre.  I could have made it back on the metro, but I have another day of paid HO/HO bus time, so I'll go back tomorrow.  Instead, I did the full loop of the yellow line and saw more new stuff.  This city is sooo big and filled with pretty buildings.  I thought I would go to Versailles for half a day and maybe a full day trip somewhere else, but I don't think I can.  There's still so much to see and it's already Wednesday night.

I was so cold by the time I switched buses and got back to ND (did I mention I did the yellow line on the top deck and then waited about a half hour for the green?  brrrr) that I immediately started looking for a dinner spot in the super touristy area.  I checked 10-15 menus and before I was able to read #16, someone bounded out of the place and entreated me to come in.  I was cold and tired of trying to decide so I took it as a sign.  The guy was a serious piece of work.  I very much enjoyed watching him run for the door as soon as he noticed anyone glancing in the direction of this tiny restaurant.  Based on my observations, if you glanced, you had at least an 80% chance of dining there.  And the food was pretty good.  I took the plunge and made myself try...snails!!  They were ok, but I only ate half.  They weren't as slimy and creepy as expected, but they didn't really have any flavor I couldn't get from a piece of garlic bread fished out of the ocean so I probably won't try them again unless I'm at a really good restaurant or in the home of an excellent French chef.  I had lamb for the main course - amazing.  The meat I've had here is so tender that it's actually a challenge to pick it up by stabbing it with the fork after cutting a piece.  The final course was crème brulee - yummy, of course.  And, yes, there was red wine. 

 

I switch hotels tomorrow morning (this one gets super expensive starting tomorrow), so I'll start the day rolling my bag along Luxembourg Gardens to my cut-rate digs.  Then, back to Sacre Coeur.  I think.  We'll see.  :)