April in Paris, part deux

The next day, we got up bright and early to another gorgeous Parisian morning. We got really lucky with the weather the entire week! We hopped on the metro (now that we'd gotten the hang of it!) and headed to the Musee d'Orsay to look at more amazing artwork. After a few hours, we joined back up with the group, jumped back onto the metro, and made the trek up to Montmartre. In order to get to the center of Montmartre and the Sacre Cour, one must climb up the steepest hill in Paris (more like the world, it seemed like at the time). Montmartre was my number one favorite place we visited in Paris. It was filled with little cafes and local artists doing their work right there on the street. (I loved it so much, I ended up going back on Thursday!)

That night, Ray, Joe and I went back to the Eiffel tower area and took a sightseeing cruise down the Seine- another of my favorite activities we did in the city. Seeing Paris by night is breathtaking!

Wednesday, we went to the Musee Carnivale in the morning, then headed to the Pompidou to see some very modern art. After wandering around a bit (and getting lost in possibly the most confusing museum I've ever been to), we decided that maybe we weren't "deep" enough for modern art and went to find some lunch. Then, we went to the Cluny for a completely different museum experience, looking at medieval art and literature.

Another of my favorite stops in Paris was Shakespeare and Co., an incredibly small bookstore across from Notre Dame. It was packed wall-to-wall with books new and old, as well as people reading and sketching. The atmosphere was so condusive to creativity- I could've sat and read all day in there. I was most intrigued by a little cubby with a typewriter and chair inside (for public use!) There were notes stuck inside books in the little desk, many of them love notes from visitors over the years.

Thursday was the scheduled trip to Versailles, but an alarm clock failure prevented me from joining the group. Instead, Keiko took me, Liz, Dan, Jill, Calvin and Cherie back up to Montmartre to look around and do some shopping. I was able to pick up two paintings for my parents, which was nice. That night, we had our last dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with Drs. Hosey and McGurk and our friend Fearghal. It was a good end to a wonderful trip.