More Museums

Today we visited a few Museums, starting with Musee D'Orsay. Last time I visited it was still undergoing renovations, but now that it is done, I really like it. Many of the collections/artworks are in the same place they were before, and there is natural light through much of the museum.

















Next we crossed the Seine to the Louvre to visit the Decorative Arts and Fashion museums.
This was on my "must visit" list because of this fabulous exhibit: Déboutonner La Mode (Unbuttoning fashion)

900 buttons recently acquired from a private collector

Not only were there 100's of beautiful buttons, but period garments, descriptions of the various trade the made each type of button (metal, wood, embroidered), how buttons styles evolved and how some of the top designers used buttons in their collections: Schiaparelli, Chanel, Balenciaga, Yves St. Laurent, Courreges, Dior. (I know I missed a couple) And the book for the exhibit is really well done as well.


From there, we walked the length of Jardin des Tuileries to L'Orangerie.
There is a fairly new section of Renoirs as well as the famous Water Lilies.

After a rest at the apartment, we headed a little ways back down the hill for pizza. It was raining pretty hard, so the restaurant was almost empty. The pizza was very good as was the dessert: creme brûlée and tiramisu.

oh yeah--forgot about that stop at Lauduree...

Today is a pretty quiet day since it is a holiday here in France (May Day and Labor Day).

From Versailles to the Marais

just some of the people at Versailles yesterday

Yesterday we spent the day at Versailles. The line to get through security was crazy, so we headed to the gardens and took a train to the Grand Trianon.
The last time I was here (2002), I don't think the Grand and Petit Trianon were open for visits. And there was nowhere near the level of security there was this time.
After visiting both Trianons, we caught the little train back to the Chateau and waited in line for security. It was great to see things again, but the crowds were really bad. In many cases you had to shove people to get through rooms or be able to see anything.

The entrance to Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's private house

and her bed

I've seen a few of the single-person
electric vehicles in Paris.

The King's (or maybe it was Napoleon's?) bedroom at Grand Trianon

Marie-Antoinette's bedroom in the Chateau

In the RER station: The French spirit lives on...

Today we visited the Marais. We started at the Carnavalet, Museum of the history of Paris, then to Entrée des Fournisseurs, a great mercerie (notions shop). 

Proust's bedroom

From there we headed to Villa Paris, the tile shop owned by the our hosts, Olivier and Alexandre. We had lunch not far from there, at Au Bourguignon du Marais.

You know it is a nice restaurant when they use Laguiole Cutlery

After visiting Alexandre and Oliver and having a coffee, we head to Mariage Freres for some tea, then on to BHV to do some more general shopping. I bought a red leather skin and a coffee mug, Mom found a set of matching accessories: case for her phone, a small shopping bag and a couple of other things. From there we headed home, stopping to get the obligatory baguette before heading up the hill.

Dessert: 2 flavor of Berthillon ice cream

Tomorrow, the D'Orsay!

The shop, Villa Paris

Leo, the new miniature Schnauzer

Some of the beautiful tile work--
1mm square mosaic pieces

Just a few nice things

well outside the Cluny Museum

 We started Monday on the left bank at Musee du Moyen Age. (Medieval museum also know as the the Cluny) One of my favorites, especially now that the tapestries called The Lady and the Unicorn are here.

"My only desire"

From there we headed across the river to Notre Dame, stopping in at St. Severin on the way. The line to walk in to Notre Dame wasn't too bad, though the two Americans behind us really wanted us to know that they had been there before--kept talking about how beautiful it was at Christmas. yeah for you, peeps.

After Notre Dame we grabbed some lunch at a cafe. Croque Monsieur for me and "Le Club" for Mom. She finally got to try some frites.


Next we visited Concierge. Once a royal residence, later a prison. Marie Antoinette was probably the most famous prisoner.

Yeah, that's real and really fresh.

What better souvenir than a little sister for Gabby?

Our last quest for the day was some yarn for more. First we headed to La Droguerie, but she wanted a more traditional shop with pre-measured yarn, so we headed a little further to Cat'Laine.

On the way we came across filming--my guess is a commercial for BMW, "rue de Croissant" and one of the covered shopping passages.

Tuesday we headed to Versailles--I'll post on that later today since we need to get going to explore the Marais today.

Bon journée!
Juliette