Today is our first full day with Gail and Peter and it's forecast for hot so we have decided to go to the Musee D'Orsay to be out of the sun a bit. After a nice walk through the Parc de la Villette we caught our bus for the ride downtown. Taking the bus from it's terminal point has one great advantage, being able to select our seats. Since it's their first bus ride I figured it would allow Peter and Gail to see the city without having to be really pressed by the crowded bus, and I was right. By the time we got to our normal stop the bus was standing room only. When we got down to the Pompidou Center we got off to look at the Stravinsky fountain with all the colorful moving waterspouts that sits just next to it. Then we walked across the plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville down to the Seine.
At that point we remembered that the Paris Plage was now in full swing so we walked down to the quai. The first food concession we came across turned out to be 'Lobster and Co', the food truck we discovered last week at the guinguette at the end of the tramline in the southwest corner of the city. So immediately lunch became the order of the day. Stephan and Lena worked their magic again with our lobster and vegetable wraps and we sat quai side for a great bit of fast food. After eating we walked the length of the plage then up the stairs to the street level to cross the Seine and finally over to the museum.
Each visit just reinforces our decision to buy a membership as we bypassed what looked to be a 30 to 45 minute wait just to buy tickets. Once in, we headed off to see early Degas works and some by Toulouse-Lautrec and works influenced by him. Peter remembered seeing many pastel works by Degas on an earlier visit, but we were unable to locate any traces today. So we took ourselves up to the fifth floor to visit the main impressionist rooms, which are a visual feast. It was very crowded as one might expect for a July visit, with people rushing from one work to another taking pictures. I'm sure they have to go home to see what they visited because they're so busy taking picture that they spend less than 10 seconds on each painting. One young woman almost elbowed me out of the way in her haste to take a photo, so I just reached up and put my hand in front of her Ipad and smiled at her whereupon she got shy and smiled back. I then got out of the way and she took the shot and then hustled off to another. I commiserate with people who have only a short time to visit, but good manners don't have to suffer and unfortunately at this time they do.
There are signs all over the museum showing prohibitions such as no food, no flash photography, no cell phones and now this refreshing addition as well, hooray. People still take selfies but at least there in no more dueling.
Today is our first full day with Gail and Peter and it's forecast for hot so we have decided to go to the Musee D'Orsay to be out of the sun a bit. After a nice walk through the Parc de la Villette we caught our bus for the ride downtown. Taking the bus from it's terminal point has one great advantage, being able to select our seats. Since it's their first bus ride I figured it would allow Peter and Gail to see the city without having to be really pressed by the crowded bus, and I was right. By the time we got to our normal stop the bus was standing room only. When we got down to the Pompidou Center we got off to look at the Stravinsky fountain with all the colorful moving waterspouts that sits just next to it. Then we walked across the plaza in front of the Hotel de Ville down to the Seine. 
At that point we remembered that the Paris Plage was now in full swing so we walked down to the quai. The first food concession we came across turned out to be 'Lobster and Co', the food truck we discovered last week at the guinguette at the end of the tramline in the southwest corner of the city. So immediately lunch became the order of the day. Stephan and Lena worked their magic again with our lobster and vegetable wraps and we sat quai side for a great bit of fast food. After eating we walked the length of the plage then up the stairs to the street level to cross the Seine and finally over to the museum.
Each visit just reinforces our decision to buy a membership as we bypassed what looked to be a 30 to 45 minute wait just to buy tickets. Once in, we headed off to see early Degas works and some by Toulouse-Lautrec and works influenced by him. Peter remembered seeing many pastel works by Degas on an earlier visit, but we were unable to locate any traces today. So we took ourselves up to the fifth floor to visit the main impressionist rooms, which are a visual feast. It was very crowded as one might expect for a July visit, with people rushing from one work to another taking pictures. I'm sure they have to go home to see what they visited because they're so busy taking picture that they spend less than 10 seconds on each painting. One young woman almost elbowed me out of the way in her haste to take a photo, so I just reached up and put my hand in front of her Ipad and smiled at her whereupon she got shy and smiled back. I then got out of the way and she took the shot and then hustled off to another. I commiserate with people who have only a short time to visit, but good manners don't have to suffer and unfortunately at this time they do.
There are signs all over the museum showing prohibitions such as no food, no flash photography, no cell phones and now this refreshing addition as well, hooray. People still take selfies but at least there in no more dueling.
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