Paris: This one's for you Coach
Today was a big day -- so many activities. We ventured off to several locations in the 7th and 1st Arrondissements. Before getting on our metro we had a petit dejeuner at our local bistro -- omelettes, croissants, cafe au lait, and an espresso for Em. After hopping off the metro at the Invalides, we headed for the tallest building in sight, Napoleon's tomb. When we arrived to find out that the Musee d'Armee was closed on the first Monday of every month, we were still happy to find out that Napoleon's tomb was open.
So, we bought the tickets and walked through the beautiful courtyard of the Army Museum's courtyard.
Napoleon Bonaparte and his son "the Eaglet" had an unbelievable crypt.
The inside of the dome of Napoleon's crypt was extremely detailed. About five stories high.
After Napoleon's tomb, we ran across an antique market outside the ecole militaire. Then, we stopped by Rue Cler. Rick Steve's had a big section on Rue Cler, it was great. No cars allowed and super good food and markets. We ate at le Petit Cler.
We both had healthy dishes because we knew what was going to be in store for us for our afternoon snack. We highly recommend stopping by Rue Cler since it gives you a good feel for a Parisien street, it is very close to the Eiffel Tower in the 7th.
My favorite painting in the Musee de l'Orangerie. (Alred Sisley)
Following Rue Cler, we hopped back on the metro and arrived at Concorde in the 1st. We then walked to l'Orangerie. We spent a solid two hours taking in all of the magnificent paintings. It was a great museum -- small line (even on the day that the D'Orsay was closed). I would say that they had about three hundred fantastic paintings from the 19th and 20th century (Matisse, Renoir, Sisley, Rousseau, Monet, etc.) We also rented the audio guide for the museum for five euro. We shared it, and I really enjoyed using it on the paintings that I really liked or was curious about. For example, I learned tons of new info about how Picasso and Rousseau were tight. Picasso made Rousseau famous by taking an interest in his art (even though all the critics thought Rousseau's art was elementary.)
Emily outside l'Orangerie
For Coach Dawson.
After walking through the Orangerie we headed for our big afternoon snack. Many thanks goes out to Coach Dawson for telling me that he would be seriously disappointed if we didn't go after he sent me the recommendation. His recommendation made my fiancé the happiest woman in Paris after having the best, most richest hot chocolate east of the Rhine at Angelina! On top of that we had two desserts -- stuffed.
Chocolate Lover's Heaven. #foodcoma
After having Angelina we stopped by the Apple store so Emily could get her adapters for England and France.
On our way to the Apple Store we ran into some policemen with rollerblades... hmm. I think we all know the jokes about rollerblades...
Out of the recommendation from my future father-in-law, we had an extremely nice and elegant meal for our last dinner in Paris. Located in the Gare de Lyon Train Station, Le Train Bleu has a top notch environment and atmosphere.
The ceilings and walls in Le Train Bleu are covered with gorgeous murals and cool chandeliers.
Just finished her cheese platter, could not be any happier.
Selfie: Me and our garçon while he cut my lamb...
I got the smoked salmon and leg of lamb with au gratin potatoes --highly recommend the combo.
Tomorrow we are off to England. We are taking the Eurostar train out of Gare du Nord. We are both really excited to take the Chunnel into the motherland since we have never done it before.
A demain (or, have a good one),
JR & EPV