Nighttime at the Musee d’Orsay

Hi, this Morgan. We have had a great time in France! We have seen the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay, and we are going to Bordeaux soon. In Paris we saw the Eiffel tower and everything else listed above. When you are up there, it is really high, although when you’re on the ground the tower doesn’t seem as high. The Eiffel Tower is 327 meters tall, which is tre tre high. That means “very.”
Thursday night, we ate dinner at this great place, and we have actually eaten at many great places! We were planning to visit the Musee D’Orsay in the early evening, then go to a nice restaurant near our hotel. Thursday nights, the Musee D’Orsay is open until 10:00pm, and we planned to go to dinner at 8:15pm.
The Musee D’Orsay seemed more modern inside than the Louvre. I liked the giant clock inside the museum, which appeared to be gold plated and was still working. The glass domed ceiling was very unique; it was not like anything I had seen before. I liked all of the levels of the Musee D’Orsay, and it was fun to see so many famous art pieces.
On the 5th level, we walked outside onto a patio where there were huge statues and we could look down at the Seine river. It was beautiful. It was getting near the time for us to go to dinner, and we had walked all the way through the museum to the far end from where we had started. We saw signs that said “sortie,” which means “exit” so we decided to take the stairs down to the bottom, rather than walking all the way back through the museum to the escalators.
After walking down two floors, we discovered the most beautiful room ever. We were so curious, we decided to explore it. When we got there, it turned out to be a fantastic restaurant, and they were willing to let us walk in and eat dinner there! It was a wonderful meal.
My parents and Dan ordered a bottle of Champagne, and the waiter poured a glass for us girls to try. I sort of liked the Champagne, but really, none of us girls can understand what adults see in Champagne! What we loved was this delicious drink called “Limonade” which is clear lemonade and tastes fantastic! Margaux mixed a few drops of Champagne into a glass with Limonade and said it made the Champagne drinkable!
For dinner at the Muse D’Orsay, I had a first course of cold asparagus soup. It was really good, but I wasn’t able to finish it all. For my entrée, I had chicken wrapped in ham! There is a fancier name for it, but I can’t remember, all I know is that it was delicious. All I could say, over and over again, was “It doesn’t get any better than this!” And, French baguettes actually have like a buttery flavor. It is amazing. For dessert, I had chocolate molten cake with caramel. The dessert was magical! I also had a bite of Uncle Dan’s peach tarte, and Margaux’s lemon meringue tarte. The food here is the best, and anyone who knows me knows how much I love food, so France is like heaven to me!
Jacqueline’s photo references:
1. We had to display the Musee D’Orsay’s famous clock.
2. The Leppla group photo was taken on a patio near the roof of the museum, the Seine is below, and building in the background is the Louvre.
3. The dining room at the Musee D’Orsay was exquisite. The ceiling art was done in 1900 and the whole dining room was moved into the Musee D’Orsay at some point during renovation of the old train station.

Storming the Louvre….

After breakfast, and touring the incredible beauty of the Luxembourg Gardens (and its beautiful palace – surrounded by all the wonderful statues) we were off to the Louvre Museum….taking full advantage of the light volume of traffic on the trains, because of the “holiday”.
All jaws dropped when we got our first look of the outside of the museum as we rounded the corner. It’s sheer mass, is one thing……it’s magnificence and beauty a whole ‘nother thing. We just stood in the courtyard, next to the I.M. Pei pyramid (which was new to all of us – since last visiting, many years ago) snapping photos and taking it all in. Stunning contrast between the modern fountains and the centuries old building.
Crowds were pretty thin (thank you Feast of the Ascension) - and we just walked right in to the lower level entry of the museum to buy our tickets and begin our TGV (Tour Grande Vitesse….as in: a very fast tour).
Seeing the Mona Lisa and Winged Victory were top of the list. So, we headed in the direction of the Italian Masters (signage inside the museum is great….as are the written guides/maps in many languages). Along the way we were awed by the sheer volume of magnificence that had been created over the centuries….and had all been assembled in such a beautiful and befitting place and way. Morgan was especially moved by the ceiling art – something that was another part of our day, later, at the Musee d’Orsay.

On our way to the wing that houses the Mona Lisa, we looked down into a courtyard where we saw lots of sculptures that appeared to be under renovation or perhaps in the process of being relocated. We joked that it appeared to be the Louvre equivalent of Amazon.com, maybe those statues were being shipped out to Cleveland and Houston, as part of a money-making online venture!

This is Margaux: The Louvre was awesome!!! What I’ll remember the most about the Louvre was how huge it was, we only went in one wing and that is a separate museum in itself. Another thing I will remember is a room near the Mona Lisa had sculptures that were built into the wall touching the ceiling. The room was gorgeous!!! The sculptures looked so realistic it was incredible, except for the fact that they were white.

Poilane Bakery and Luxembourg Gardens.....what a morning..

Finally – a nice long update to the blog…..it is now 10:40AM on Saturday. We are on the TGV (trains grandes vitesse…..real fast train). So much has happened – where to begin. For starters – we missed our first/scheduled train. No need to go into all the details – suffice to say, the Montparnasse Station is really, really, really HUGE.

So, now to backtrack, a bit…..On Thursday we got up and headed out for the day. Our goals were pretty lofty: see the Mona Lisa (the Louvre Museum) and take advantage of the late/evening hours of the Musee d’Orsay (Thursdays only – they are open until 10pm – pretty cool).

First thing we headed out on the Metro (first GROUP experience on the METRO – was awesome!!!! It was just our luck that it was a holiday (feast of the Ascension) and traffic on the trains and out and about was pretty light. Made getting out and about AND around pretty smooth. First stop: Boulangerie Poilane. Many years ago I’d met the original Mr. Poilane during a visit to Paris. He and his bread impressed me so much that I just had to go back. So, I dragged the entire group to the bakery where we all grabbed some form of croissant or tart, stopped across the street at a little grocer and bought a bunch of produce. It was just a couple of blocks from an entrance to the Jardins de Luxembourg. It’s one of those amazing places that Paris is so full of…..a very unassuming entrance gate…..once passed through is pure magic. Well, sort of magical…we happened to enter through the sports park side of the gardens – so there were lots of tennis courts and such….but the vastness that was within is one of those amazing Parisian specialties. Before heading any further into the park we sat down and dove into our “breakfast”. Oh, by the way – I probably forgot to mention – all the forecasts for rain have not played out. We’ve had incredible sunshine the whole time; and this day was no exception.

As we ate our “breakfast” we watched this man and his little boy playing tennis – just volleying back and forth….right in front of our bench. There’s a picture below of the little boy – complete with a very French scarf tied around his neck…..and pretty damn good at volleying with his father. Below are some pictures the early part of our day. Bread from Poilane, the young French Andre Agassi (couldn't have been more than 4 years old), and our time in the Luxembourg Gardens......

What a trip so far.....

Sorry it's been so long since a blog entry. It's very, very early on Friday morning and I'm the hotel lobby (WiFi doesn't work back in my room...so have to come to the lobby for it to work - where, I might add, my MacBook is working perfectly).

We are having a truly amazing time. David is still a powerhouse - he leads the pack all the way. Jacqueline - forever the maternal "wonder woman" brings up the rear....and me...well I'm usually somewhere in the middle of the pack - with the good fortune to be able to walk and talk with either Morgan, Margaux or Madeline - whichever girl happens to be my companion, for the moment. These are among my favorite times, getting to go one on one with each of the girls....seeing how much they are loving this trip - and remembering each of them throughout the years - from infants.....Anyway - I'm waxing on...... Here's a favorite picture of each girl, taken on the trip....so far.....

By the way....today we move hotels - since the Hotel Muguet (pronounced "moo-gay"....I had it all wrong - thinking the "g" was soft) was not able to take us for our third night - when we decided to extend the Paris portion of our trip. This has been the perfect place to stay. Incredibly well situated for everything we've wanted to do. We are off all the of main streets - on a one way street. So, that makes for a very, very quiet spot.....But, just two blocks from the Invalides/Ecoles Militaire....15 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower and 20 minute walk to the Musee d'Orsay (more on our visit there last night and our amazing dinner in a later post).

We're moving to the Hotel Apollon. It's very close to the TGV (fast train) station - which we will take tomorrow for Bordeaux. Plans for the rest of the day are up in the air - but that will be part of another/later post. By the way - the 10-day forecasts, when we left the US was for rain, clouds, rain and more rain during these first few days, in Paris. Instead - we've been blessed with incredible weather - mild, sunny - barely needing a (light) jacket, at nights.....Guess that's what happens when you are traveling with three angels: Morgan, Margaux, and Madeline. They've been incredible throughout the trip - troopers. Meals are the only difficult part - since we all have our "likes" and "don't likes". I remember when I was their age - I hated just about everything - so to have become a chef - nothing short of a miracle.

Okay - now on to some pictures - and breakfast. Because of the scattered nature of our first days' schedules I have been WITHOUT COFFEE FOR TWO DAYS.....not today, however!!! After I post I'm going to pack for the move to the other hotel and sit down to a few cups of very strong coffee, croissant and such.....

Big hugz and Gros bisous (as they say in France)

At the Eiffel Tower
Madeline looking sweet at the Luxembourg Gardens
And Venus was her name (Morgan!!)
Margaux outside the Musee D'Orsay

Wiped out but had to take in some sites with this weather!!!

Time for a nap, after our quick excursion out and about. The weather here is beyond spectacular - I mention this, because, it was forecasted: RAIN. We will still likely get some of that during the trip, but even with only a couple of hours sleep we had to head out from the hotel and check things out. Took off on foot for the Eiffel Tower - but needed to have some lunch. Stopped in to the first cute place we saw (David's idea) and sat down. I did the interpreting of the menu. It was a very, very true/classic bistro - with about 20 seats total. After sitting down, however, it became clear that the American taste buds were rearing their limited heads - and nothing on this little place was going to fit. 

So, with gracious apologies accepted by the maitre d' we hit the streets in search of something simpler with more broad appeal. A street-side panini stand was perfect.....and then off to the Eiffel Tower.

The line for the elevator was longer than you can believe - with all of the pre-reserved student groups getting priority over those of us in the standard line. Finally, gave up. Went for a complete tourist trap horse AND buggy ride - and it was absolutely awesome.

A couple of pictures below and then it's off to nap, for me. My eyes keep shutting - as I sit here typing this.....Enjoy the pictures - and will post, later!!!!

We Have Arrived....nous sommes arrives!!!!

I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Muguet

I'm excited, stoked, and totally wiped. The rest of the group has gone upstairs to their rooms and mine just got cleaned and is ready. Not much bigger than a closet - but who CARES. It looks out onto a sweet little garden, has a decent sized bathroom and a nice (and looks comfy) bed..... I ended up buying and bringing a foam pillow - helped me get a smidgen of sleep on the plane. Plus, it will make for very restful slumber over the coming nights....

Here are a few quick pictures - taken at SFO (tried to post them from the airport Air France lounge - but they had some serious firewall issues that prevented me from bringing up my blog). Anyway - Everyone is showered and is ready to head out....

Love to everyone - it's awesome already...we saw the Eiffel Tower as our plane was landing - that's where we're headed next!!!!!!

A Quick Post Before Hitting the Sack

Twas the Night before leaving....and I'm really pooped!!!! But, had to pop on real quick and thank Nick for getting me out, distracted, and full of some amazing food. Nick started with the asparagus/citrus salad....and I decided to go FRENCH - with the yummers Onion Soup. We had Ono and Halibut - one of each....grilled with amazing sauces and those kick-ass Hayes Street Grill French Fries

Here we are after dinner - just before I hit BART and headed back home to Pleasanton...