Paris: The 18th
On the 13th we visited the Musée de l’Orangerie and the Louvre.
On our last visit, we had missed most of the museums (besides the glorious Rodin museum) due to it being a short visit. This time, we made sure to save energy and time for these fabulous collections.
While packing in with hundreds of other people from all parts of the globe into an enclosed space would have been unthinkable in 2020, the French COVID protocols for entry to the country, the pass sanitaire check, mask enforcement, and the limited/timed entry made it seem like all possible mitigation steps had been taken and that visiting the museums had had their risks reasonably mitigated.
On the days of our visits, entry was surprisingly civilized. When I last went to the Louvre, it was before the age of smart phones and “having tickets” meant “waiting in an hours-long line to hand in your tickets.” COVID and the iPhone have changed all that, we knew when we were going to be let in and what to expect.
Our first errand of the morning was to get our tests for re-admission back to the US. A local chemist had COVID tests and with that formality out of the way, we were able to start the proper fun of the day.
We started the day at the Orangerie which is on the south side of the Tuileries, so we were able to walk out from the hotel, cross a park, and we were there. The collection was lovely, in particular a giant room, perfectly lit, solely dedicated for showing Monet’s water lilies. While we had seen the collection at NYC MoMa, these massive panels were beautiful when lit by the gauzy Fall light that they were intended to be viewed under. It was a smaller collection, so afterward we headed over to the Louvre neighborhood and found one of our favorite foods of the entire trip: St. Eustache Creperie. The proprietress was lovely and friendly and made us feel at home for an extended visit. We ate delicious crapes, drank kir, and, before we knew it, the two hour wait time before our Louvre entry had passed by. Spending the time with real Parisians was a delight: I find them warm and friendly and open. While they often get a bad rap, I find it generally to be undeserved. Afterward, we headed over to the Louvre.
Upon entry, we headed straight for the Denon wing since we only had a 90 minute slot. The Louvre is too big for any visit, so one might as well accept that and decide what the goal is. We saw the glorious Greco-Roman classics and the staggering large canvases of Delacroix and Ingres. We managed only to snap a few pictures because our window was brief before they closed. I guess we’ll have to take on another wing again soon 😄 .
Afterward, we were tired and headed back to the hotel for a bit of rest and repair. When we were ready for a lower-key dinner, we headed over to the Asian cuisine district of Les Pyramides. Several of the shops were closed (Surprise! Thanks COVID), but we found a wonderful Pho shop where we were warmly welcomed. The slight sprinkle of rain had intensified and the proprietors left the front door opened. We could hear bicycles, conversations, and rain drops as we ate delicious pho surrounded by blonde wood and the objets d’art of l’Indochine (Viet-nam).
Afterward, we walked home through the rain and admired the beautiful exterior of the old opera house.
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