I can’t believe our vacation week has finally come to a close. On Saturday, we had time for one last Paris excursion before heading to Orly Airport for our flight back to NYC. As you read from Friday’s adventures, that one last excursion would be the Musée d’Orsay, an exceptional collection of Impressionist art housed in a beautifully-renovated old train station. More on that in a bit. First, we packed up our bags and enjoyed one last leisurely breakfast at our hotel, indulging in extra pain au chocolat for Dan and extra bacon for me. (Trust me, breakfast at home is not nearly this elaborate or tasty.)
After dropping our bags with the concierge, we hopped on the metro that we were now quite familiar with, and arrived at the Musée d’Orsay just in time for opening at 9:30 am. Imagine our dread when we saw quite a long line snaked around outside! We were stunned, figuring that surely we’d beat the crowds at that hour of the day, but it turns out that once the museum opened, the line moved very quickly. Whew. Crisis averted (this time).
The inside of this museum is just lovely, with lots of sunlight and open space. I was disappointed to see signs all around prohibiting photos, since I wanted to be sure to remember this experience. I was mortified when Dan offered to take my picture anyway, since I didn’t want to be “that” tourist and I feel horribly guilty about rule-breaking in general, but we managed to sneak in a shot or two without attracting the wrath of the guards.
We saw a very interesting exhibit on Van Gogh titled “The Man Suicided By Society.” I won’t pretend to understand all of it, but the exhibit brought together 40 fantastic paintings and grouped them to show the progression Van Gogh’s mental state over the years (i.e., all self-portraits were in a room together, etc.) It was really neat to see. Dan has been to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, but he was impressed with this exhibit as well. After that, we headed straight to the Impressionist Gallery on the top floor, since we knew we couldn’t spend all day there. It was like an art history class come to life — Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas and more were all heavily featured. In my high school art classes, we had to learn various masterpieces, and I took a 19th century art history class in college, but seeing the paintings in real life was so much better than a text book or poster. Loved, loved, loved it. We snapped another quick photo from the top floor before heading down to the Toulouse-Lautrec Room and the cafe for lunch.
To save time (and to avoid wandering around Paris figuring out where to eat), we grabbed a quick bite at the Musée’s cafe. I got a ham and cheese sandwich on a baguette, but Dad had to settle for a doughnut and banana. Apparently the sandwiches were all pre-made, and once the workers found out about Dan’s nut allergy, they refused to sell him one. Some of the bread looked like it had seeds of some sort, but we figured it was better to play it safe than sorry. Who can argue with a doughnut for lunch anyway? Once that was done, we bid farewell and returned to the hotel to collect our bags.
Our metro passes for the trip included transportation the airport, so we took one metro and one light rail out to Orly. Some things seem to transcend cultures and geography, since as we were waiting for our light rail train, there was a man playing the guitar and singing Bob Marley’s greatest hits on the platform. One of our last Paris memories could have been straight out of a New York subway station. It was a reminder that some things never change, even if you travel around the world. Comforting, in a way. At the airport, we had one last — you guessed it — pain au chocolat before boarding the 7.5 hour flight home. I am exceedingly proud that I got two new country stamps in my passport on this trip, since on our honeymoon to Rome, the immigration officer barely even glanced at my passport, much less stamped it. Our flight was smooth, we landed early, and although we miss London and Paris, we are happy to be back at home. Until we plan the next trip, I’ll leave you with one final photo of La Tour Eiffel. Au revoir, Paris — jusqu’à la prochaine fois!
