The following morning it was the turn of the Museum d’Orsay. I didn’t buy a ticket in advance for this museum, because I didn’t want to fix the structure of my short stay in Paris that much, but when I did pick the day when I wanted to go there, I decided to go early, especially since the museum was but some 15 minutes on foot away from the flat in which I lived. I came a little before the opening and there were already people standing in line, but not too many. When the museum opened, I soon entered and paid a visit to everything inside of it that I was interested in.
Museum d’Orsay
The Museum d’Orsay is the place that brings together the painting, sculpture and decorative arts primarily from the 19th and 20th century France. A couple of decades ago, the collection of the impressionists, as the most important segment of this museum, was transferred from the museum Jeu de Paume into the reconstructed railway station Gare d’Orsay. As opposed to the Louvre, which is simply far too big, the Museum d’Orsay has the right measure.
Museum d’Orsay
If somebody is interested only in famous paintings, it is easy to get to them and see them, but there is also enough time and space to see at leisure other pieces of art before getting too tired of impressions and walking around. As it was not too crowded, I could really enjoy some of the masterpieces without any disturbances. Thus it happened that I was completely alone before the Manet’s Luncheon on the Grass and these are precious moments. But, it was also possible to enjoy other oeuvres, including one of my favourites “The Floor Scrapers” by Gustave Caillebotte.
Museum d’Orsay, Edouard Manet, The Luncheon on the Grass
Museum d’Orsay, Edgar Degas, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years
Museum d’Orsay, Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers
On the other hand, the Museum d’Orsay also had a special exhibit “Beyond the Stars. The Mystical Landscape from Monet to Kandinsky.” The exhibit also brought together numerous masterpieces that were specifically for the purpose loaned from different museums around the world. Again, it was more crowded than the rest of the museum and again it was more difficult to enjoy the exhibited paintings. Still, I was glad to be able to see in one place a few of the 50 paintings of the Cathedral of Rouan by Claude Monet. Namely, since the impressionists played with the light and different effects it creates, Monet took up a position from which he watched the front of the Cathedral of Rouan and then he painted the same sight at different times of the day and in different weather conditions. The light effects were certainly quite different and this may be seen in the paintings.
Museum d’Orsay, Claude Monet, in Full Sunlight, Harmony in blue and gold
Museum d’Orsay, Claude Monet, Harmony in Grey
After the beginning of the day filled with art, I spent the rest of it practically in eating and drinking. And that is not too bad. First I went to have a lunch at a nearby restaurant where I had sausages and mashed potatoes, which may appear German, but this was done in the clear French style nonetheless. The sausages were from the region of Auvergne in central France and the mashed potatoes, called aligot, contained huge amount of cheese which melted to perfection. Mmmmmm... It was fantastic!
Mashed potatoes and sausages à la française
Following the lunch I moved to a quite well known cafe in order to have a coffee and eat an éclair there. And although an éclair in the middle of Paris was quite an appropriate choice, I still found it to be just too sweet. On the other hand, I enjoyed sitting out in the open with the support of heaters, of course. The only thing that bothered me from time to time was cigarette smoke. I was actually surprised to see that many people in Paris smoked despite the very high prices of cigarettes in comparison to the prices in Serbia. At least that was my impression. I didn’t bother with this topic too much, but I think that smoking is definitively prohibited inside cafes and restaurants, but if you are sitting outside, then it is ok. Somehow I have grown out of habit of seeing that many smokers in the cities of the “western” countries, as well as of scenting tobacco smoke since smoking has been prohibited at my place for several years now. What happened here was that relatively often, as I sat out in the open where tables and chairs are crowded to the maximum degree, I would end up sitting next to somebody who smoked and then the smoke would inevitably go right in my direction. You cannot have the open space and no smoke, apparently.
Once I’ve finished with the coffee and the cake, I went back to the flat to have a rest, for I had a plan to spend the evening with my friends. Namely, Alexandre has a small restaurant near the Place de la Bastille, so we had already agreed for all of us to go there together so that I would see where it was and what it looked like. The restaurant is mostly open for lunch for the people working in the vicinity and of course for other visitors, but if necessary Alexandre opens it in the evening as well or when the restaurant is booked for groups and celebrations.
My original plan was to go there on my own, especially since there is a very nice area for walking nearby, but I gave up both on account of my small toe which was still recuperating and on account of the weather which was bad. As for the walking area, in a few places where some railway lines used to pass, the Parisians recultuvated the zones by removing the ties and the rails, and turning the space into green courses. One of them is Coulée verte René-Dumont which starts from the Bastille and passes very near Alexandre’s restaurant. Other than the bad weather, I also thought it didn’t make much sense to walk along some fine path in early spring when this path is truly fine mainly when it is all green. Still, this has remained with me as an idea of something I may do the next time I visit Paris with a hope that the weather will be better.
This way, I first took the underground to go to Dule and Jacqueline, then we picked up the girls and all of us together went to meet Alexandre who was waiting for us at the restaurant. In the meantime, it started to rain heavily. As we were sitting inside, that didn’t bother us and prevented us from enjoying the food, the drink and the laughter. My photos did not turn out well, but I don’t actually need them, for I can still vividly feel the taste of the rump steak in pepper sauce. Alexandre’s restaurant, Les Dingues, may also be looked up on its Facebook page (https://fr-fr.facebook.com/Restaurant.LesDingues/).
On the last whole day of my stay in Paris, the morning started with pouring rain, so I took it slow. I had practically seen everything I felt like this time, but I also thought that it would be incredible to come to Paris and not to go near the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe. Still, I rarely go to see only one thing and so was the case this time around. First I actually wanted to go to the church of St Germain des Pres which was right near the place where I stayed. It had occurred to me to be careful lest I kept postponing my visit there because it was so close, saying I could visit it some other time, and then end up without visiting it at all.
From the outside it appears rather plain in comparison to the elaborate Gothic churches I had visited on the previous days and it was actually built for centuries, but the basis was constructed in the Romanesque style in the 11th century. In a small park near one of its corners, one can also see a Picasso’s sculpture.
Picasso’s sculpture “Homage to Apollinaire” at the church of St Germain des Pres
At the time when I visited the church, one of its parts was under reconstruction, but there were still nice things to see. I found the wall paintings that adorned the apse in the back of the church particularly interesting, as they appeared to be in brown-whitish tones.
Church of St Germain des Pres, the wall painting is to the right
I stayed at the church for a little while and then took the underground to get to the Trocadero station. The toe on my right foot continued to create problems, so I decided to use transportation whenever I could in order to spare the little devil. At the same time, I had surplus tickets since I bought a “carnet” at the very beginning, i.e., a set of ten tickets which proved to be quite handy. Of course, when you buy a carnet, then the price of the individual ticket goes slightly down.
The Trocadero is a semi-circular square where the Chaillot Palace is located. The palace was built in 1937 for the needs of an international exhibition and today there are several museums located there and it also used as an entrance into a large theatre placed under the spacious terrace. It is precisely this terrace or rather a large plateau that is the main reason why most of the tourists come here – not so much because of the Palace itself, but because of the stunning view at the Eiffel Tower intensified by the fact that the Tower is on the other side of the Seine. When I got to the plateau the rain had already stopped and the sun tried feebly to get through the partially thinned out clouds. In order to get good photographs, this is the place where one should take them in the afternoon when the sun shines on the Eiffel Tower from the west side. And vice versa, in the morning hours, it is better to take photos from the side of the Champ de Mars, a park stretching to the east from the Eiffel Tower. I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower the first time I was in Paris and that was something that I didn’t find attractive enough to repeat it. Had the weather been nicer and had I not had problems while walking, I would have probably gone for a leisurely stroll around the Champ de Mars while passing under the tower. It is only when you get there that you become fully aware of the huge size of the construction. Ever since it was built until the installation of night lights, the Eiffel Tower has frequently been subject of controversies, but this does not prevent it from being one of the most famous symbols of Paris. To be frank, one can see beautiful buildings, broad streets, castles and palaces, religious temples, good food, museums and famous artistic objects, as well as expensive shops all over the world. But, there is only one Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower as seen from the plateau at the Chaillot Palace
Then I walked to the huge round square, the Place Charles de Gaulle, also known under the name of the Etoile, which appropriately means “star” for there are 12 broad avenues leading from it into different directions. The most famous among the avenues is the Champs-Elysees which leads directly to the Place de la Concorde where the heads of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were chopped off back at the end of the 18th century. The Place Charles de Gaulle is where the Arc de Triomphe, another imposing construction celebrating the victories of Napoleon, is located. On the ground, under the centre of the huge Arc, there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where wreaths are laid down during all of the more important state ceremonies. It is also possible to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe for a fine view.
Arc de Triomphe
After a few photos I took here, I started walking along the Champs-Elysees, but I gave up the idea soon and went underground in order to get to the Louvre-Rivoli station and visit a church I “skipped” a few days earlier.