around Paris, part 5

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Though the rain came as expected, my cousin and I grabbed our umbrellas and metro map and headed to Musée d’Orsay. My mom was accompanying my uncle and aunt to Orly airport to pick up another of her friends (who flew in from Toulouse) and, later, another of my cousins from the US who had been visiting Italy.

Musée d’Orsay, previously a train station, is an airy open place, thanks to the daylight that floods in through its many glass panels. The ground-floor exhibits were uniquely displayed and included some interesting art deco architectural drawings (photography of these was not allowed).

This is one of my favorites of sculptures that captured delicate nuances in facial features and expression. Many of these were by Jean-Baptiste Carpeau.

Upstairs held many of the famous pieces for which the museum is known - like this Monet. Great crowds of students and tourists paraded through the galleries of well-known paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Pisarro, and Degas. Apparently, they’d come to the same conclusion we did and decided d’Orsay was both open and convenient for a rainy Wednesday. Each viewer had about 5 seconds to look at any particular work before the crowd began to press on.

I enjoyed seeing a cut-away model of the Paris Opera house. If you click on the link, you’ll see how large this model is. The photo below is taken of the last room on the far right.

Look at the tiny candles on that chandelier.

Soon, we turned our attention to more pressing matters - lunch! Wandering down rue du Bac, we were tempted by these beautiful croissants.

Turns out, Eric Kayser is rather well known in the area of French baked goods (okay, so I’m the last to know). With no room inside the tiny boulangerie, we settled on a ledge across the narrow street and munched on our sandwiches. Hmm, he has a bakery in LA.

My cousin had a few specific stores she wanted to visit and so did I, but in the sudden downpour, we took refuge under the eaves of a nearby store (a tattoo shop, as it happens). It was too windy to attempt opening the umbrella - we’d already seen several that had gotten inverted.

One of my guidebooks had recommended E. Dehillerin for kitchen tools. There were many things I would have liked to have purchased, but their size and weight would be unmanageable. So I settled for a couple of confit spoons with hooks at the back to sit neatly on the edge of jam jars. It took three store employees to wrap up my little parcel and process payment, but their merry joking and friendly service made the transaction a fun one (I understood about 5% of their banter).

One last sight as we headed home after a full day of traipsing. This is the entrance to the Forum des Halles.

Until tomorrow…
spring in Paris, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 6, part 7

~ by nikkipolani on May 15, 2008.