I can't get passed how easy it is to get around. The metro is so fast and efficient and easy to navigate. And everything is beautiful! Each street and alley looks like a photo. All the buildings are gorgeous. All of them.
(I agree with all of the above. Paris is simply fantastic. And I think it's important that everyone goes. That way, when you're in New York, you know that you really are in the greatest City in the world. I kid, I kid.)
The last three days have been packed. We visited the Louvre twice, the Tuileries Garden, the Orsay, the Orangerie, Notre Dame, Saint Chapelle, the Left Bank Book Sellers and a bunch of stuff in between (like the best falafel in the world). We also managed to pack our faces full of bread, cheese, macarons, pastries, quiche and wine.
The Louvre was great, but we had to divide and conquer. There is no way to see everything in one visit so we split up and took two hours to see the important stuff.
(The Louvre is amazing. But it's also an incredible showcase of the paradox of France. Yes, it is beautiful, but this exists due to an oppressive monarch who wanted a nice house. The stuff is great, but some of it is from colonial/Napoleonic adventures. The French also feel a need to showcase the glories of past civilizations, but in the light of being a successor civilization. It's jarring to American sensibilities.)
The Orsay Museum picks up where the Louvre leaves off: Impressionism through Realism.
(PHENOMENAL. Here the French have real cause to gloat. The Orsay is a former train station, so the flow is great and the light is fantastic. And the art... Almost totally French. And all of it is priceless. Favorite museum so far.)
The Orangerie continues with Pointilism and Cubism.
The Orangerie, though smallest, was my favorite so far. It houses Monet's Water Lilies. Monet painted the Water Lilies specifically for this exhibit but never saw it installed. Water Lilies covers the entire first floor. The best part, however, was downstairs. The lower level covers Renoir, Degas, Picasso, Utrillo and a number of others; many of whom were developing their style Montmartre.
(In short, we are staying in the neighborhood where the modern art movement was born. Not bad for a girl from San Jose and a boy from Maine.)
So far we've had great luck with the language. Neither of us speaks French, but Rick Steves' book has enough terms, phrases and suggested behavior to get by. Plus, most of the waiters and waitresses we've interacted with have been friendly and speak quite a bit of English.
(Who knew that English was the lingua franca of our times?)
We met up with a couple of good friends, Mike and Nicole, for dinner and drinks yesterday evening. They're staying close to Notre Dame and have rented a little apartment for the few days they're going to be here. Mike and Gideon have big plans for the army museum while Nicole and I will take a break and shop a little. Paris has a couple department stores unlike anything I've ever seen. They're huge, ornate and expensive.
(I was shocked, just shocked to discover that the ladies didn't want to spend 3 hours in a museum learning about Renaissance armor and Napoleonic battle formations.)
If I had the time (and a car) I'd visit the Puces St. Ouen flea market held out in the 'burbs. The flea market dates to medieval times when peasants would sell items discarded by the rich. Today, the market has more than 2,000 vendors.
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