Cleaning day and chores 7-15-15

Today is cleaning day (usually Mondays) because we have an appointment for a company to come to the apartment to install smoke alarms.  Our landlady, Carole, had made the appointment before we took possession of the apartment, but for whatever reason it couldn't be scheduled until now.  Do you suppose it's because some of the many calls we received and couldn't understand were earlier attempts?   Who knows, who cares?  It's happening today.

We commence with our next visitors in 5 days, my sister Gail and her husband Peter.  So my chore was to go out and buy tickets to the Musee D'Orsay so that we're not trapped in the line to buy tickets when they are here.   So naturally I headed into town, with a few small diversions, I had to mail the ubiquitous post cards and a small package; then catch the Metro down to Bastille where I got off and walked over to the Marche d'Aligre.   This market runs everyday but Monday and is kind of a fixture in Paris.  If you're short of days in Paris and want to go to a market then this is a good one to see because it's close to the downtown and easy to get to, plus as I mentioned it runs six days a week. After my visit to the market, I headed over to a organic food store very close by and bought a large jar of organic honey, it turns out to be less expensive per unit than the stuff we've been buying in Monoprix.
 
After a bit of lunch I took the bus over to the Musee D'Orsay to buy the tickets.  Once there I decided to take a quick visit and see if they had drawings by Edgar Degas in their collections.  It appears that they don't have a specific collection, so whilst I was there I went in to the special exhibit of Pierre Bonnard, a member of the Nabis, a  post impressionist group during the 20's and 30's.   I've seen some Bonnard work before but I wasn't prepared for the impact of this show.   It is impressive to say the least.  There are a whole range of periods being covered during his career, and a visual feast.
After the exhibit I headed back to the apartment and got there just in time to hear that the smoke alarm had been installed only a short time before and to see the last 45 minutes of today's stage of the tour.


 Bad year for Vincenzo Nibali, last year's winner, who is fading with every stage so far. Chris Froome looks unbeatable but it's a long race and weird things happen.