Paris - Day Trois

On Tuesday morning of our Paris trip, we woke to beautiful blue skies and the promise of great weather.  We were excited to start exploring the city!

Our first stop was at the Les Invalides, the Military Museum and Tomb of Napoleon.  We had heard that the lines at this museum were not always as long as some of the other museums so we thought it would be the perfect place to buy our museum pass.  Les Invalides was a very short walk from our hotel, making it the perfect place to grab breakfast also.

We had decided before getting to Paris that the  Museum Passes would be our best option to see the sites.  A four day pass is 62 Euros (approximately 74 US dollars).  Two day and six day passes are also available.  With this pass, you can enter each site as many times as you would like.

With the Museum Pass, you have access to more than 50 museums and monuments in Paris and the surrounding area.  A definite bonus to using the Museum Pass is many of the attractions have a separate line and you can slip in the museum with a much short wait time.

One thing to keep in mind is the pass needs to be used in consecutive days.  We chose to visit Normandy on Monday so we would have four consecutive days to use our Museum Pass.  

After a quick stop for pastries and hot chocolate, we bought our Museum Passes and headed in the main door of Napoleon's tomb.  

Besides the enormity, it struck both Eric and I how incredibly dusty the tomb was.  The tomb is actually dark wood, but you can see by this picture there is a thick layer of dust on the top.  I bet Napoleon is rolling over in there and wishing someone would give his monument a little dusting off. 

 The Military Museum is housed in one wing of the Invalides.  There are many, many rooms full of guns and uniforms.  Eric, being the history lover, was in heaven as we roamed from room to room. The displays were very thorough - heck, they even had Napoleon's stuffed horse!  

By lunchtime we I was ready to move on.  Our next stop was the Rodin, which is located only blocks from Invalides.  

Here we saw the famous sculpture of The Thinker.  Located outside just to the right of the entrance, this piece of art stands guard over the beautiful gardens.  

Eric and I each saw some of our favorite sculptures and marveled at the beauty of the gardens.  It didn't take us long to cover this stop and I would highly recommend it be included on your list of places to see in Paris.

Next we took the Metro to the Orsay Museum.  I guess I should really say we took the Metro until we got lost and walked to the Orsay.  Quite the adventure!  Later in the week, we conquered the Metro and used it with ease.  But this first attempt was rather comical!  

The Orsay Museum is a converted train station and houses some of the great works of art by the masters.  

Eric and I each found several of our favorites and were able to get up close and personal to them.

Something that struck me at almost every place we visited was the ornate ceilings.  They were spectacular!  I bet half our pictures are of various ceilings.  When you visit, don't forget to look up!

I love this picture looking through the big clock at the Orsay.  Peeking through the hands of time and seeing Paris laying below was breathtaking.  

When we were finished browsing the art, we decided to walk back to the hotel and relish the atmosphere of Paris.  At the time, we knew our hotel was close to the Eiffel Tower and it just didn't look that far away.  Surprise!  It was about 5 miles.  

Along our walk home, we crossed over the Seine river and stood on the bridge just admiring the sight and felt elated to actually be in Paris.  We often found ourselves stopping to gaze around and take in all Paris had to offer.  

For dinner we popped a little pizzeria just down the street from our hotel.  Sorry, the only picture I took of our dinner was the appetizer.   Fresh tomato and mozzarella salad with truffle oil and a bit of diced mushrooms.  Yum!  What followed was a fantastic flatbread pizza and wine.  Lots of wine!

Every night was capped off with us standing on our balcony admiring the Eiffel Tower.  It was also fun to gaze over at the big gold dome on top of Napoleon's Tomb.  

Stay tuned for recap of Day Four!