Paris – Day 4 (part 1)

This was going to be a busy day.  We were about to tackle two of the largest museums in Paris – Louvre and Orsay, plus one short tour, and finally dinner at Chez Janou.

We had purchased Paris-Museum passes after seeing the very first line-up to get into a museum.  The pass allows you a separate entrance and in some cases little or no wait time.  If you do not have pre-purchased tickets or a museum pass, your wait in line could be a couple of hours…or more.  But, even with the pass, with the crowds we were seeing, quick access still wasn’t guaranteed.

Musée d’Orsay was the first stop - housed in a beautiful rail station that was designed and built as a terminal for the 1900 World Exhibition.  It had ceased being a rail station several decades ago, when in 1986 it was opened as a Museum.  It still retains the look of a train station with its large open space and of course, a large clock at one end.

It would house some of the most amazing pieces of artwork – sculptures and paintings.  Degas’ bronze sculptures of dancers, paintings by Van Gogh, Renoir, Sisley, Monet, and Cezanne are just a few of the more recognizable artists.

We left the museum and decided to do a tour of the city sewers.  Yup, you read it…sewers, or égouts as they are known in Paris.

It seemed apropos that we did this tour at the time we did…because I had to go to the bathroom VERY badly and before showing our passes, I first asked if there were ‘toilettes’ inside.  Why wouldn’t there be?!  It’s a sewer! 

With that out of the way, the tour guide warned us “remember to wash your hands after the tour is over”.  OK, while the tour was informative and interesting, this was enough for me to know that I was in for more than I had expected.  I just hoped that the ‘odour’ wouldn’t follow us for the rest of the day.  

With an extra dose of hand sanitizer, there was no reason why we wouldn’t walk the streets of the famous fashion houses of YSL, Givenchy after that tour…mais oui!  No one was going to poo-poo that idea!  :)  There were very expensive cars (with drivers) waiting outside the likes of Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and D&G shops - a totally different world than the one most of us live in. 

But…time for Musée du Louvre…(to be continued)