Day 3: Along the Seine

Day three of our trip to Paris was the busiest, but it was also my favorite. We spent most of our time staying near the Seine river and doing things that were close to its banks. The morning began early at the Museé d'Orsay. Of all the museums that we visited in Paris, the Orsay was my favorite. This is the museum that houses the impressionist and post-impressionist art. I saw numerous works by masters such as Renior, Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas. This was the only museum where photography was strictly prohibited- but as you can see from the photo of Whistler's Mother posted here, this rule was not followed by all members of our party (Brian). The kids did pretty well in the museum- especially considering that they had very little interest in the art. I was happy to be able to see everything that I wanted by noon. After a quick visit to the gift shop, we left the Orsay and walked to our next destination- the Rodin museum.

The Rodin museum consisted of a small indoor musuem and a fairly large garden area with sculputres all around in it. One of the first sculptures that we came upon was "The Thinker". Other favorites included "The Kiss" and "The Gates of Hell". We had lunch at the small café in the gardens of the Rodin museum. Being outside was a nice change of pace for the kids- even though it was a little too chilly for my taste. From the gardens of the Rodin museum, we could see the gold dome of the buliding that housed Napoleon's tomb. This building was across the street from the museum and was our next destination.

One thing is for sure- no expense was spared in building a tomb for Napoleon. From the painted ceiling to the marble floor- everything was expensive and larger-than-life. After looking around the building for a while, we started walking back toward the river. We crossed the beautiful Pont Alexandre III (Bridge) and booked passage on a boat cruising the Seine river. We cruised on board this sightseeing boat from the Eiffel Tower area to Notre Dame. It took a little while to complete this journey, so we had plenty of time to "recharge". I loved being on the river and enjoyed all of the sights along the way. We got off of the boat at the Notre Dame Cathedral and decided to visit this famous church. Even though they were holding mass inside the church during our visit, they still let people inside. We were able to walk around the perimeter of the Cathedral and observe the service. There was a man singing in the cathedral while we were inside, and I swear he had the voice of an angel. It was so moving.

The day ended with a metro ride back to the hotel. While we were riding, we were being entertained by a couple of guys playing instruments. This was not uncommon. We saw entertainers (usually musicians) in the subways daily. Once, there was even a small orchestra set up at one of the stations. All of these muscians and artists added something to our experience of everyday life in Paris. This, truly, is a magical place.