On The Road (or, rather, sidewalk)

And now for something completely different. In addition to tartine, clementines, apples, coffee, and cake this morning, I had some croissant. I say "some", not "all" because I cut it in half. My père-d'accueil had arrived latish the previous night and so had slept in; there was a place set for him and one for me. There was one croissant, between them. I wasn't sure any of it was for me, but, then again, it sure looked like it. Also, we all know croissants are delicious. I only hope that I didn't a) take half of his breakfast or b) send the message I didn't like croissants! It was fantastic.

I headed off to the newly reopened Musée Picasso after breakfast. I bought a youth annual membership in advance (at €15, only €4 more than my admissions price, I can get in free whenever I want AND skip the notorious lines. Good deal? I think so!), so, knowing I could visit as many times as I wanted, I took my time getting there. Since it was a truly beautiful day, I cut through the Jardin du Luxembourg to enjoy the bright green lawns (Paris doesn't really understand the concept of winter, sometimes) and the glittering fountains. I have become quite fond of the fountain de Médici which was beautifully illuminated this fine morning.

Fountaine de Médici, morning.

Fountaine de Médici, reflection.

Fountaine de Médici, duck.

Sénat. Who says it isn't sunny in Paris?

I continued my walk, all the way up into the Marais. I actually, by accident, took rue du Temple instead of rue de la Vielle Temple (how was I to know there was another one?), so I ended up with a slightly alternative route. Luckily, I had the Paris streets cape, Les Trois Mousquetières on audiobook, and graffiti to keep me company.

This really is the graffiti-du-jour here.

Isn't this a cool church façade? The clock is too small, though.

Finally, after circling the block the wrong way around in search of the entrance (which would have been easy if I had taken the correct street in the first place), I arrived. It was a beautiful building, the Hôtel Salé of old, and an interesting fit for Picasso's art. The building was so beautiful that it sometimes distracted me from the art presented on the walls!

Musuem interior façade. Yes, it's one of those buildings.

This is dignity.

Because of that card I had purchased, I cut straight past the line. I headed to the adherents desk, where I received yet another beautiful museum card with my photo on it. The good news is, if I lose several museum cards AND forget what I look like, this extra one has me covered.

One thing that struck me as I made my way through the museums was how talented Picasso actually was. While people often find it difficult to see in some of his particularly well-known pieces, I found it clear that he could paint realistically and portray emotion as well as other talented painters; this emphasizes his choice not to do so.

Amazing that the same man who painted this...

also painted this.

Distractingly beautiful ceiling. The house itself was a piece of art!

Close-up, because this stonework deserves it.

Afterwards, I walked over to the Musée D'Orsay, where not only do I get in free, but I get to bypass the super-long line! I med up with a friend, who had to work on a project there but who brought along her visiting friend (with whom I had my crazy discussions last night) and I took him around. It's a great museum, and we enjoyed the Impressionists, Van Gough, and the benches. Then, we went to the café for a nice cup of café. Sorry, no photo!

When we left, we walked through the Tuileries, and went in a miniature circle as we decided what to do. We ended up discovering the Pierre Hermé, a pâtisserie that sells, perhaps, the best macarons in Paris. We each bought two, and I have no doubt, after tasting them, that they are among the best (and most expensive).

Macarons. Passionfruit, clementine-olive oil, vanilla, chocolate.

We ate them in the Tuileries, after observing a fantastic sunset.

Sunset through the Treeleries

Guess what's back? A glittering tower and a colorful sky. What more can you want?

I went home afterwards to obtain wifi and plan the group's dinner because, let's face it, we are the very most indecisive group I have ever been a part of. If I didn't do it, nobody would have. I found a nice-looking Italian place, and dictated that everyone would be there at 20h (which means, with us, 20h15 at the earliest). Unfortunately, they didn't have space for 8 people, so we explored a bit in the St-Germain-Des-Pres neighborhood and found a crêperie with reasonable prices. Mine contained spinach, cheese, and eggs. Of course I forgot the food photo, but luckily I remembered when I was 2/3rds done.

Ambrosia?

I split some dessert crêpes with people,  one of which was especially impressive. Drizzled with caramel sauce, it came with a scoop of ice cream sprinkled with almond slices.

Ambrosia.

Afterwards, we walked around until we found somewhere we wanted to go (the Plaza del Toro, it was called. Great-looking tapas if you're interested!). The great discussion lasted until 12h30, when, tired, we split. Now, I will split.