The post Alexa promised

So, Alexa said she'd rather have me post the pictures and fill in the rest of the details of the day... so here's my perspective (Michelle).

The Musee d'Orsay was lovely - it used to be a train station and was renovated to pick up where the Louvre leaves off (that would be Pre-Impressionism through the Munch/Klimt era). We went today knowing it would be full because so many other attractions are closed on a Tuesday, thinking - hey, we did the Louvre on Sunday how bad can the Orsay on Tuesday be? Welllll... it wasn't terrible but the Orsay is on a much smaller scale (in terms of physical space) than the Louvre. John tried to rouse us out of the boat earlier, but we were running about a half hour late. So instead of being there before they opened and waiting, we got there about 15 minutes after opening and saw ALL of the school children (or daycare groups or whatever). We keep seeing these groups and thinking about what it would be like if Joy in Learning (Ben's old daycare) took this kind of field trip (Ben says it would be a disaster because the kids are not good at keeping their hands off things).

Anyway... we headed straight for the back and top sections of the museum and got a reasonably crowd-free viewing of the major impressionist works. I think that the highlight for me was standing in front of the actual Renoir from which a print hung in my college apartment (that would be the one that Ben and I are standing in front of in the photo above). Ben and Alexa are not the art fanatics that I am, but they were troopers and listened to art lessons from John and I (I mean, when you are standing in front of one of the paintings that prompted the Impressionist movement - the Manet of the picnic in the park - how can you NOT tell them about it?). The second photo is the view from a balcony of the Orsay looking over the Seine at the Louvre.

We had a lovely lunch at a cafe/brasserie near the museum - omlettes for most of us and then headed for the Luxemburg Gardens for some much needed down time. Imagine Central Park but with a palace in the middle, a grand fountain, and lovely sculptures. As John noted, the most impressive thing is that there are these chairs all around that you can pick up and move to where you want them, and they remain within the park and clean. Ben enjoyed playing at this great playground that contained at least two pieces of equipment you would never find in the US these days - a big climbing web/tower (in the photo above - Ben did make it to the top though the photo does not show that) and a zipline track. And no one seemed worried at all about the possiblity of being sued for safety reasons - they just let the kids be kids. There is an area where bands (like the high school concert type) play music and the look on John and Ben's faces when they heard the theme from Star Wars was priceless.

Alexa has told you most of the high points of the Pantheon. She's reading Les Miserables (a birthday gift - the novel by Victor Hugo) and several Moliere plays (a purchase at Shakespeare and Company books in Paris - a store that made even John and I gulp when the purchases were totalled - our kids have learned that books are always OK to purchase and 'free' to them as Mom and Dad foot the bill). Anyway, she was hoping to see both graves, but Moliere is buried somewhere else... but clearly she still liked it. What she didn't mention was the pendulum in the center of the Pantheon. Essentially, it tells time - and impressively Ben figured out how. The pendulum keeps to the same path throughout the day, but the earth is rotating so the spot in the ring where the pendulum hits changes (and its got little time markers). For more on this, do a search on Foucault's Pendulum. I walked out of the Pantheon amazed at the sites but really thankful to have children who could clearly understand and appreciate what they saw.

Finally, a note about our dinner this evening. You should know that John has been an excellent student and researcher on how to be a good tourist in Paris and he's passed on that knowledge to us because he did not want to be part of the 'ignorant American' stereotype. We got emails with helpful phrases and several lessons (including French meals to acclimate us to the cuisine) in the months and weeks leading up to the trip. Tonight we had an experience that made him wish he had memorized the phrase "I apologize for my fellow countrymen, we aren't all like that."

After leaving the Pantheon, we walked down a sidestreet and headed toward several cafes and restaurants. There was a rather large group (more than 20) of people on a tour organized through their church in Somerset, New Jersey (this was obvious from the t-shirts a couple were wearing but also because it was easy to hear their conversation). We tried dodging them but ended up in the same restaurant and seated right next to a group with the lay leader and the monsignour. They never even attempted a "bon jour, madame" just started asking questions (and even making demands) in English. There was only one waitress (poor thing) and she did not speak much English which made it take twice as long for her to take their order (because, of course, though the menu was your basic Italien dishes, it was printed only in French so they had to ask if they had certain dishes). It was frustrating to listen to, but John was literally at his limit when one woman, irritated that she hadn't been approached soon enough, yelled "Garcon?" at the newly arrived backup waiter; this apparently is rude (garcon means boy as well as waiter; the appropriate phrase, for those who wish to know, is "s'il vou plait, monseiur/madame"). When we ordered (in French, after properly addressing the waitress with a "bon jour, madame"), I think the waitress was ready to kiss us - in fact, she giggled with us later... John tried to tell this table that addressing someone as "garcon" was rude and that their demand for "plain water" would be more effective if they asked for tap water (pronounced low dew roh bee nay), but we couldn't get their attention. I told John not to look too smug, but I admit I did feel pretty darn good about our attempts, however feeble, at communicating in French. The restaurant is in the photo, and you may even be able see some of the not-so-innocent New Jersey-ians.

A side note - for whatever reason (perhaps because I was wearing a polo shirt-dress?) I must have looked like a native today, because I was approached by two people today and asked questions in French... and, for the record, I was able to figure out the ice cream flavors at Berthillon's and to purchase apple juice (juis pomme), which I couldn't find right away and had to ask for, without speaking English... I'm getting better.

With any luck, the fireworks to celebrate the festival of Saint John the Baptist will begin in moments and be visible from our boat... so its time to sign off...