A Rainy Museum Day in Paris

We woke this morning to a rainy day.   Mary had gone out while we were still asleep and purchased croissants for each of us to enjoy with our breakfast.  It was nearly 11 am before we opened our umbrellas and headed for the Metro.  Mary is using her green poncho instead of an umbrella! 

Our first stop was at the Eglise Saint Etienne du Mont that has the beautiful interior that Jim and I enjoyed so much last week.   This is also the church featured in the movie “Midnight in Paris” where the car appeared at midnight for the beginning of the adventure each night.

Then we walked over to the Pantheon, a church prior to the Revolution that now houses most of the tombs of famous French Authors and other famous people.  It is undergoing renovations right now and the pendulum that normal hangs from the large dome is out for repairs!  

 We also purchased our six day Museum Passes while we were there. 

Leaving the Pantheon we walked back to our Metro stop through the Sorbonne for a short ride to visit the Eugene Delacroix Museum in his home.   Small and lovely even in the rain. 

Soon we were hungry and considered eating at the Duex Magots until we reviewed the prices on the menu.  Figuring the Lipps across the street was about the same we walked down the Rue de Seine pass the art galleries all the way to the River. 

Then we headed towards Notre Dame looking for a small restaurant called Quai 21 that Jim found for us last year.  Oops…closed.   It was now nearly 3 pm and we were very hungry so we walked another block and found a lovely restaurant on the corner called Pizza Marzano where we enjoyed a delightful lunch/early dinner.

Soon we were off to our final museum of the day:  The Louvre.   On Friday it is open until 9:30 pm so we were pulling out the stops and staying out late.   We breezed in using our Museum Pass and enjoyed several hours.  We first looked for the Winged Victory…it is out for restoration!  

Then we went to see the famous Mona Lisa; the crowd was slim so we got a very good view and excellent photos.  Then off to find the Napoleon Apartments.   The girls really enjoyed seeing the extravagant display of wealth.   We found the Café nearby and decided that it was time for dessert.  We each enjoyed a lavish dish of ice cream, fruits and cream.   Museum restaurants are very elegant!

By this time it was well after 8 pm and we decided we’d come back tomorrow to find the Dutch and French paintings that we were looking for.  Home by Metro and evening chores. 

We did a load of laundry in the machine that first took searching on the internet to figure out how to work this French machine!  Jane finally found it and voila….we had a load of clean laundry done by midnight.  Hoping it will dry soon as it’s hanging all over the apartment!  May do a run to the Laundromat tomorrow morning to dry them.

A fun evening; very late for some of us but good time as we had wine and cheese about 11 pm.  Computer time is important to all of us each evening and most importantly; charging all of the electronics we use all day long!

Hope you enjoy the slideshow: