Grandma got us up bright and early this morning to hit some of the museums before they got too crowded. We all had breakfast, made our lunches and off we went to the Orsay Museum, which has a large collection of French Impressionist works.
When we got on the bus Bryce's ticket got jammed in the machine and so GG and Bryce had to ride down to the Saint Lazare station where the boss with the key finally came and unlocked the machine and returned the ticket. We needed to have the original ticket back because it is good for 5 days of riding. The poor bus driver got 1/2 hour down on his schedule and we felt bad for the trouble. The key man told us not to put the ticket into the machine any more, but just to show it to the driver if we take the bus again. Just another example of the Parisian bus driver doing a little extra and really helping out, thank you.
So Grandpa and Isabella, Brendan and Ryan went on to the Orsay and GG and Bryce stayed on the bus. Once they got to the museum they were able to go right into the galleries and skip the long line of people waiting to buy tickets. Those Paris Passes helped here.
Grandpa gave a wonderful tour and commentary through the various galleries, and especially on the top floor where most of the important works were displayed. His tour was so good a woman from Australia asked if she could join the tour and when grandpa told her he was not a professional tour guide, just visiting with his grandchildren, she was amazed. "You know so much about art!", she said. The lady gave him lots of compliments and strokes and told him that this is an experience his grandchildren will never forget. He just glowed and felt good when she said that.
In the meanwhile, GG and Bryce had finally arrived at the Orsay and were touring the various galleries too. They saw many famous paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, Morissot, Gaugin, Monet, Cassatt, Corot, Degas, Manet, Pissarro, Seuratt, Toulouse-Lautrec, and even the famous "Whistler's Mother". Bryce patiently tolerated this experience as GG meandered from room to room, enjoying the famous works of art.
Finally Grandpa spotted us and we met up for a bit and GG finished the tour and then we went outside for lunch.
Next we went to Les Invalides, which is a big chapel where Napoleon is entombed. His casket sits in the middle of the rotunda. It is a huge wooden casket, big enough to put grandpa's Smart Car into. It looks very regal on a marble pedestal in the center of all.
There was also a really large display of suits of armor from the 13th century to the 17th century,. There were child-sized suits of King Louis XIV, also his teenage sized suit and lots of grown up suits. Some had extra shields on the shoulder where a lance might go in and also a peg that could hold up an arm holding a lance. There were lots of weapons, including swords, sabers, and shields that were intricately and ornately decorated. There were also many rooms explaining the many wars that France fought in over the centuries, with interactive screens that showed the strategies used to win the engagements.
We were all too tired to do any more museums today, so we caught the metro home, gobbled up dinner of spaghetti and donated our clothes to the laundry pile before taking a shower and hitting the sack.
When we got on the bus Bryce's ticket got jammed in the machine and so GG and Bryce had to ride down to the Saint Lazare station where the boss with the key finally came and unlocked the machine and returned the ticket. We needed to have the original ticket back because it is good for 5 days of riding. The poor bus driver got 1/2 hour down on his schedule and we felt bad for the trouble. The key man told us not to put the ticket into the machine any more, but just to show it to the driver if we take the bus again. Just another example of the Parisian bus driver doing a little extra and really helping out, thank you.
So Grandpa and Isabella, Brendan and Ryan went on to the Orsay and GG and Bryce stayed on the bus. Once they got to the museum they were able to go right into the galleries and skip the long line of people waiting to buy tickets. Those Paris Passes helped here.
Grandpa gave a wonderful tour and commentary through the various galleries, and especially on the top floor where most of the important works were displayed. His tour was so good a woman from Australia asked if she could join the tour and when grandpa told her he was not a professional tour guide, just visiting with his grandchildren, she was amazed. "You know so much about art!", she said. The lady gave him lots of compliments and strokes and told him that this is an experience his grandchildren will never forget. He just glowed and felt good when she said that.
In the meanwhile, GG and Bryce had finally arrived at the Orsay and were touring the various galleries too. They saw many famous paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Renoir, Morissot, Gaugin, Monet, Cassatt, Corot, Degas, Manet, Pissarro, Seuratt, Toulouse-Lautrec, and even the famous "Whistler's Mother". Bryce patiently tolerated this experience as GG meandered from room to room, enjoying the famous works of art.
Finally Grandpa spotted us and we met up for a bit and GG finished the tour and then we went outside for lunch.
There was also a really large display of suits of armor from the 13th century to the 17th century,. There were child-sized suits of King Louis XIV, also his teenage sized suit and lots of grown up suits. Some had extra shields on the shoulder where a lance might go in and also a peg that could hold up an arm holding a lance. There were lots of weapons, including swords, sabers, and shields that were intricately and ornately decorated. There were also many rooms explaining the many wars that France fought in over the centuries, with interactive screens that showed the strategies used to win the engagements.
So enjoyed talking with you this morning on Skype, sounds like everyone is having a wonderful time. I'm hoping when my grand-kids are older maybe I can do something similar. Even Dave and Julie have never been to France would be great to take them.
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