Where to begin? Let's begin with ... a late start. I think the kids had some snacks for "breakfast," which was at about noon. Decided to get a Paris Museum Pass and headed out to the Musee Rodin, which is a little walk up the Rue Vaneau, then a left on Rue Varenne, and there is the museum, right before you hit the Boulevard de Invalides. Entered the sculpture gardens and were met by The Thinker. Took a ton of pictures, some with the Invalides and/or the Eiffel Tower in the background. Icons of Paris, all in one place! Pretty amazing. It was nice to see how the kids viewed the artwork, and how interested they were in it. Not the way I would look at it, trying to analyze it like I learned how to do in art history class -- but just through a child's eyes, just seeing what they see, being drawn to what interests them, finding humor and amusement, beauty and disgust. What was so fantastic was ... they were actually interested. I am so glad we made this trip!
Finally got past the Thinker and Balzac, then I went to check out the cafeteria, since I was very hungry (and I'm sure the kids were, too). Got some baguette sandwiches, which hit the spot. Outside for more picture taking of sculptures. Miles was fascinated with the Gates of Hell. Boyar took a picture of me by a fountain -- I hope he remembers me like this, always. Mika took photos of many of the sculptures, while I hovered at a distance. Eventually made it inside the actual museum, where there were more photos taken and lessons learned in bronze casting and a brief history lesson about Victor Hugo and Camille Claudel. Saw "Hanako" who was some Japanese woman whose name may not have actually been Hanako. Saw "The Kiss" and many others ... too many to name or count.
Crossed the street to take a quick tour of the Invalides. Ha. Not so quick. The Invalides was actually very interesting, if a bit morbid (with Napoleon's tomb, among others), and there was quite a display of medieval armor and weapons, all they way up through WWII items. I was impressed by the intricate details on the suits of armor, and thought they were reminiscent of the Japanese armor -- which they actually had there! Japanese armor was from the 1500's, French versions were from the 1600's, so who knows? Perhaps there was some influence there. In any case ... we eventually extracted ourselves from there and walked a bit more to the Musee d'Orsay. It was the night where the museum is open late, so we were not in a big hurry. Turned on our Rick Steve's podcasts and ventured inside ... only to find that the Impressionists had been moved around for renovation, which made for a very confused podcast tour. It was still good, though. Saw more Rodins, some Renoir, Degas, Monet, Manet, Pissaro ... and much, much more! Overwhelming. Tried to eat in the Orsay restaurant, but seating was very limited and we decided to just eat in the cafe instead since we were hungry again.
Walked out of the museum at about 9:30 pm. Took a stroll along the Seine, with me trudging along about fifty paces behind everybody. So tired. Legs will not walk any faster. Suddenly, Mika runs back to me to get the camera -- which I don't have -- and the Eiffel Tower lights up in a frenzy of disco-inspired chaser lights, like a giant string of Christmas tree twinkle lights on steroids! Very exciting, especially for Boyar! It was fun to see the Tour Eiffel's flamboyant p.m. persona, and to feel the carnival atmosphere of the area at night. We rewarded ourselves for our long walk with chocolate crepes, hot chocolate au chantilly, a cappuccino and cafe allonge. In the chill of the nighttime air, it was the perfect snack. After our dessert, we continued walking and made it back to a Metro stop (Bir Hachiem), where we bought a carnet of "t" billets and went back to our place on the Rue Vaneau.
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