July 30 Temp: Low-61*, High-84*-getting hotter. We had purchased some slices of pizza and Minute Maid orange drink on the way home last night for our breakfast this morning in the room. We arrived at the Musee d’Orsey before 9, the supposed opening time. There was a long, long line, but not in our Museum Pass line-only 4 people in front of us. There was a sign-“The museum would not open today until 10:00”, so we sat down to wait. They appeared to be having a meeting but at 9:35 they opened the doors. We followed the directions from those on the forum and went straight to the back, found the almost hidden escalator, and went directly up to the top to see the Impressionists-my main reason for coming to Paris-Monet (my favorite), Manet, Renoir, etc. We had the galleries to ourselves again for over 30 minutes. It was heaven to be there alone with Monet. This was the true highlight of the trip for me to actually, physically see his paintings. We made our way downstairs finally to see the sculptures and several small galleries that housed pre-impressionist paintings by Manet, Monet, Renoir, etc.
All in all we spent about 2 hours in Orsay and then headed for the train station-Gare Montarpasse to buy our tickets for our trip to Chartres. The train was air-conditioned and we sat upstairs. The trip was 70 minutes long. We walked the few blocks to the cathedral. Michael Miller was not giving his second talk of the day until 2:45 so we went to the Le Café Serpente for lunch. It had been recommended on the forum. As you stand in front of the church, it is to the right. We sat outside. I had Onion Soup, and we both had a plate with ham, cheese, sausages, and salad and wine. Our total was 40.8 euro. It was delicious.
We were a few minutes late for the start of Mr. Miller’s talk but we didn’t miss too much. His talks are 10 euros each and you wear a headset so you can hear him talk. He “read” two windows to us, gave some history of the church and explained why and how the church was built, etc. Seeing the church and the windows is well worth the trip to see it. It was 49.60 Euro for 2 round trip tickets to Chartres. Some of the windows have been cleaned-a very expensive and time consuming process- but there ware many more that need cleaning. It makes you want to donate money to help them pay for the work. We walked back to the train station, stopped at McDonalds across for the station to use the restroom, bought 2 cokes-with ice- and some deluxe fries, which are fat, like country fries. They were good and served with a white sauce sort of similar to a tartar sauce.
We got back to our hotel to rest briefly before we had to leave for our dinner at L’Impasse, 4 Impasse Guemenee, another restaurant recommended on the forum. Of course, when we got off the metro, we headed the wrong direction which seems to be our best talent, and walked about 6 blocks until we finally found a street that was on the map and we saw we were going the wrong direction. In turn this made us late but I called and they said “No problem.” If you go, use the Bastille exit, it is much closer. The restaurant is definitely your typical French restaurant. In all the other places we ate, the meals were not hurried, like in America, but they were not at the very slow, 2-3 hour pace I had read about. But this one was. The restaurant has a wonderful atmosphere, stone walls, beamed ceiling, lace curtains, and family run. We had a seat next to the window. I wish we had asked for an outside table, because it was terribly hot, but I had been afraid when I made the reservation of rain. The meal and service were really perfect. We both had the goat cheese salad for an appetizer and it was fabulous. The cheese was like a patty and fried. This was my favorite dish in all Paris that I had. Next we both had the beef with Roquefort sauce, and for dessert my husband had the apples with ice cream and I had the floating island meringue. It was out of this world-another definite favorite. Our bill was 75.50 Euro with wine. It was funny. I had read that there were so many Monoprix grocery stores everywhere but in the entire time we were in Paris I did not see one except from the cab on the way from CDG until tonight on the way to the restaurant. Then we saw 3 in a 6 block radius.
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Hi mediamama,
Enjoyed your report on 2 of my favorite places
in and around Paris - the D%26#39;Orsay and Chartres.
I too have made a beeline in my 5 trips to the
D%26#39;Orsay to the top floor to visit my favorite
Impressionist painters.
As to Chartres and Malcolm Miller%26#39;s tour, I
think there is none other like it.
I have just returned from 3 weeks in
the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and
Hungary.
I was overjoyed when I walked into the
Kroller-Muller Museum in a large national
park outside of Amsterdam and found,
among others, 87 paintings and 180
drawings by Van Gogh.
There is also work by Seurot, Modigliano,
Mondrian, Picasso, Renoir, and Monet.
The scupture installations in the vast
garden took my breath away.
Should you ever be on a Rembrandt kick,
let me recommend the Rijksmuseum
in Amsterdam.
Best Wishes,
Randy
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Hi Mediamama, thank you for sharing your very engaging trip report. L%26#39;Impasse sounds fabulous and I cannot wait to try it for lunch. Thank you again
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Randy and Faux, glad you both enjoyed the report. I think these were my two favorite places to visit along with Versailles. We really did have a wonderful week to remember always.
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I too enjoyed my tour with Malcolm Miller. He%26#39;s quite a legend, isn%26#39;t he?
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