The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
May 4 - Paris
Of course we had to see Notre Dame. We also wandered around the Ile St. Louis, the island behind the cathedral, where Paris originally began. While the exterior of many of the buildings were "modernized" one or two hundred years ago, the "bones" of the medieval structures still poke out here and there. Notice the low ceiling and the heavy beams in the ceiling of this gelato shop.
I got fascinated by the old latch on the door of the creperie where we had lunch. Dodging raindrops, we stuck our heads into the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore across from Notre Dame.
The Musee d'Orsay is in the old train station along the Seine. It houses an amazing collection of paintings from the French Impressionist period. I am not much of a museum person, but this is a must-see, probably for the same reason that you must go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa.
I thought it was great that so many school groups were learning to appreciate art directly at the source. For the most part, the groups were well-behaved (although the younger kids were less annoying than the teenagers!) Were we ever that young?
Perhaps these paintings look familiar -- Monet's Waterlilies and Van Gogh's self-portrait.
© 2004 Restaurant Doctor
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