Lazy Art Day

Today was our last full day in Paris, and after 2 days of hard walking, we decided to be lazy. After sleeping in, we had a leisurely breakfast of croissants, rolls, cheese, coffee, and hot chocolate. I have to say, it is pretty amazing what the French can do with even the simplest of foods!

After taking our time over break-lunch, we headed over to the D'Orsay. We were clever this time and purchased our tickets in advance from our hotel, so we didn't have to wait in the hours long line in the rain. Because it was raining. I am a big fan of rain in general, and it really seems to romanticize the atmosphere in Paris even more - makes it easier to imagine Degas or Hugo at their work. Sunshine in Paris is for the Renoir fans - I want to see depressed ballerinas in Paris, not boating parties!

And speaking of Degas and Renoir - the D'Orsay is littered with their works, as well as those of Manet, Monet, Gauguin, Van Gogh (including his famous self portrait), and so many more impressionists, post impressionists, and neo impressionists - who were all painting more or less around the same time. Explain that one to me.

The paintings and pastels were awesome to see, but my favorite part of the museum was by far the Art Nouveau section. This housed many pieces of furniture and accessories from 1900-1920 or so, and were absolutely incredible. So much of the design from this era seemed to be alive - woods seemed to organically shape and grow into chairs and tables, rather than being carved. Glass vases were made to look like living creatures (the peacock being the most popular from this time period), and floor lamps were wrought iron twisting ivy. It was perhaps a bit on the gaudy side in some of the design (stained glass everything!) but overall it was very beautiful.

After getting our art on, we decided to do an early dinner before turning in for the evening. We had not yet had crepes during our sojourn, and the rain started to fall even harder, so we ducked into a little creperie where Ryan ordered the Complete (egg, ham, and cheese) while I experimented with the Kennedy (smoked sausage, cheese, and mustard) - we were both happy with our picks and were both feeling generous, so we swapped meals half way through. Ryan's was deliciously cheesy but mine was so nice and sausagey, we did not have a clear winner.

That was all the adventuring for today - off to Fontainebleau in the morning for some world class climbing!