Most know that Paris is full of museums. Today we took in two and had quite different experiences. We took the metro to Place de la Concorde and saw the obelisk. Then we crossed the street to Musee de l’Orangerie, situated in Jardin des Tuileries. It was absolutely delightful, both in content and scale. The most famous work here is Monet’s Nympheas or water lilies. This is a series of many large panels housed in two oval rooms in l’Orangerie. It was spectacular. There is another floor of paintings to view, many from the impressionist era. Also quite nice. Then we were done and departed, after buying a few mementos at the cute little shop.

We strolled through the garden to the Louvre. We cut the queue with our Paris Pass (awesome) and made our plan. We went to see La Jaconde (the Mona Lisa) along with just about everyone else. I think it was as crowded as when we were here in August! We visited Venus de Milo with another crowd. We saw many things – paintings and statues mostly – along the way. Next we found our way to Napoleon III’s apartment, and it felt like we were at Versailles. Such over the top opulence! It was sort of cool to see and much less crowded. We found the Lacemaker next, by Dutch artist Vermeer, which was unexpectedly small. Finally, we descended to view the medieval Louvre before exiting. The whole thing was overwhelming, just like the other times I’ve visited. I’m not quite sure how to experience it any other way, so maybe next time I’m in Paris, I’ll skip it all together. I will definitely return to l’Orangerie.

We walked toward Les Halles, stopping for lunch along the way. Next we toured Saint Eustache, a cathedral built in the 16th century that houses the largest pipe organ in Paris. Young Louis XIV received communion here and Mozart’s mother’s funeral was here, among many other things. We had a 3:00 booking at O Chateau for a wine tasting (part of our Paris Pass), so that was next. It was good in terms of the wine, but a bit too much shtick from the somelier. The Pompidou was an easy walk from this point, so we went there next to enjoy it from the outside only. We were sort of museumed out by now. The metro took us home, and we will go find crepes for dinner in a bit.

One more full day here tomorrow. We have a few things left to do, including another flea market, a boat ride on the Seine, and the best museum: Musee d’Orsay. Should be fun!