Arch de Triompe and the Orsay Museum

  Wednesday - 24 Sep

Our day started out slow. Though most were up early, we didn’t get things going until 9:30 am. We divided into two groups again. This time Spencer, Jenny, Camille and Gayle set out before Theron, Cindy and I. We were going to the Arch de Triompe and the Champs de Eleysees strew. The first group spent quite a bit of time at the Arch while the latter took photos and moved on down the street. It’s lined with  expensive shops and souvenir kiosks. It didn't take long for us to have our fill of that. 

We met up at 1 pm and changed our groups. Gayle, Camille, Jenny and I went into the Orsay Museum and Spencer, Cindy and Theron went for a walk. The museum was a much different experience from the Lourve. It was not overwhelming. They had the collections organized into groups of the style of art. I spent most of my time in the Impressionist and Post-impressionist periods. Many of us really liked some of the art of Van Gogh, Monet and Renior. There was a particular painting that impressed me of Monet called the Tempest of the Beautiful Isle because it reminded me of the Azores. The art had a real calming affect on me. 

We had lunch about 3 pm at a crepes restaurant. We had crepes as sandwiches with ham, egg and cheese. Then we had a crepe with Nutella for dessert. It was delicious.

Then we divided into different groups, this time the men and the women. The ladies wanted to do more souvenir shopping while the men wanted to go back to the apartment to rest. Spencer detoured to take some more pictures.

While going through the metro station, Theron was accosted by a team of 2 young pick pockets. One young man distracted us by pointing to the bottom of his pant so we would look down. Then the other reached into Theron’s shirt pocket for his phone. Fortunately, he also had his glasses in that pocket and the glasses came flying out and hit the ground. They missed his phone and had got the glasses instead. They apologized and picked up Theron’s glasses and quickly went on their way empty handed.

After resting for a while, we had some miscellaneous snacks from the market. Jenny, celebrating her birthday, and Camille went out to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Then we all got packed and moved the furniture back where it had been.