Trips

Tues., 6/14/22 - Paris - Musee d’Orsay

Today's visit was to the Musee d’Orsay Museum. The building has been converted from a train station so it is interesting in its own right. It now houses art from the period from 1848 to 1914. There are sculptures that look like they could get up and walk. The Musee is known for its collection of works by the French Impressionists. We saw some of Monet, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Seurat, Gaugin, Van Gogh, and others.

Musee d'Orsay	Entrance to the Musee d'Orsay
Interior of the Musee d'Orsay	One of the big clocks remaining from train station times
The highlight of the visit was being able to see a special exhibit about Antoni Gaudi and his creations.	Gaudi woodwork
More woodwork designs	Another Gaudi design
Handwritten schematic for Sagrada Familia	Another Gaudi piece
Paris through one of the exterior clocks	Model of the interior of the Opera House
One of Monet's water lily paintings	The Jardin des Tuileries are across the Seine from the Musee d'Orsay, so when we were "museumed out" from looking at fine art, we crossed the river and walked along in the shaded park. It was very pleasant with no wheeled vehicles, except baby carriages, allowed. We sat for a while with a “long cafe” (almost an American coffee) and recovered some more. After our rest, we walked down to look at the Obelisk of Luxor in the Place de la Concorde. We didn't have either the energy or the desire to walk the Champs again, so we rode the Metro back to our hotel.
Lavender in the gardens	Obelisk of Luxor
Close-up of the hieroglyphs on the Obelisk of Luxor	How the Obelisk was moved from Luxor
How the Obelisk was set up in Paris	Place de la Concorde - Fountain of Maritime Navigation
Place de la Concorde - Light post	Wed., 6/15/22 - Paris and Versailles - Happy Birthday, Marge A day at Versailles. We took the Metro and then the RER train C to Versailles and had reserved tickets for the 10:30 entry. The palace was jam-packed but we used our headsets and the audio app on our cell phones and followed the tour of the Palace.
Approaching the Palace	Louis XIV - the Sun King
Palace detail - The interior shots that follow are mostly not specifically identified. The opulence is obvious.	In the chapel
Organ in the chapel
Hall of Mirrors We were especially interested in being in the Hall of Mirrors, site of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles ending WWI.	The mirrors have become cloudy with the passage of time
Chandelier in the Hall of Mirrors
Looking out the window at the gardens
It take a lot of gardeners to maintain the grounds at Versailles
Back of the Palace
Sculpture of on the grounds
Latona Fountain	Lots of shady paths to walk along
Cormorant drying his wings on the Apollo fountain	Apollo Fountain
We were there We walked in the gardens and the woods and sat down at an outdoor restaurant by the lake and had a nice hamburger (the first of this trip!) and frites and relaxed and recovered for the trip back. It was a full 8-hour day and it was a hot, sunny 85°.	Wine, card and chocolate!
Thurs., 6/16/22 - Paris The first excursion of the day involved taking the #8 Metro to the Eiffel Tower. It is amazing how much the park (Champs de Mars) has changed since we were there before, in 2007. Much of the grass is fenced off and a bunch of tents and bleachers were being put up for a horse jumping competition, the Longines Global Champions Tour, June 24 - 26. The base of the Eiffel Tower is all sealed off with plexiglas or stainless steel. You need a ticket to go into the base area. We just took pictures.
Eiffel Tower	One of the "legs"
Just look at the jet trails!	Throughout the time in France, it was just amazing how many jet trails you could see just about anytime you looked at the sky.
	Signs for the upcoming jumping competition
After the Eiffel Tower visit, we got back on the #8 Metro and rode across town to Bastille Square to see the monument where the Bastille once stood and the new Opera House with glass and stainless steel exterior. There was an outdoor market, Marche Bastille, that we had to wander through. They sell everything imaginable in those few blocks. Our final pause was to look at the Basin de Arsenal with lots of expensive boats moored to the side of the canal.
July Column at the Place de la Bastille	Opera Bastille - the new opera house
3-on-3 basketball court being set up	3-on-3 basketball court
Marche Bastille - Market at the Place de la Bastille
Basin de Arsenal - full of boats	Nice looking house boat

Back in our hotel neighborhood, we stopped at a cafe for a last Croque Monsieur for me and a Croque Madame for Marge (it has an egg on top).

Back to our warm hotel room (the AC just wasn't good enough to cool the place off in the excessive heat) to rest and repack. We are ready to go home.

Fri., 6/17/22 - Paris to Dallas to Tucson

First thing in the morning, we walked across the street with our suitcases and flagged down a taxi at a cab stand (saved €5 by not calling for a pickup at the hotel!). The driver was very nice and spoke some English. There was very little traffic until we arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport. He let us out before we got to the terminal door and we walked the rest of the way because all of the traffic was standing still.

Our flights in premium economy to Dallas and economy to Tucson were uneventful and even the five hours in the Dallas airport seemed to go by quickly. Our ArizonaGo driver was waiting for us once we got our suitcases and brought us to our driveway. Nice.

We are tired and jet-lagged after 25 hours from hotel to home but, as usual, it is nice to be home - even though the AC has decided not to work (in AZ, in the summer!). Saturday we dealt with a dead car battery and Tuesday finally got the AC fixed. It is still nice to be home.