France – Day 6 – 4/3/18

After breakfast, we headed out on the Metro for Musée d’Orsay. After seeing the lines the first time we went, we made sure to arrive early. The museum was supposed to open at nine-thirty, and we got there a little after nine. We still had our museum passes, so we didn’t have to stand in the line for tickets. The entry line only serpentined for two loops instead of the dozen we’d seen before.

So, we waited…and waited… Nine-thirty came and went. The line grew even longer than on our previous visit. Fortunately, we were near the front of the line. Finally, the people ahead of us started moving. We got through security and entered the museum a little after ten o’clock.

To begin with, the building is a converted train station. (If you saw the movie Hugo, it was supposed to be set in this station. Instead of one huge clock, it actually has three.) The architecture alone is worth the visit. The building also used to house an elegant hotel with a restaurant.

We headed straight to the top floor for the Impressionists and soaked in the gorgeousness. Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Cezanne, Pissarro, Sisley, and many others are represented.

The museum featured a special show with Van Gogh, Gaugin, and the Neo-impressionists, Seurat, Signac, etc. We took our time and enjoyed our favorites.

Since it was Larry’s birthday, we had already decided to have lunch at the museum restaurant. We had eaten there on our last trip and enjoyed it. They have replaced the chairs with very modern ones. They look a bit like shattered glass, but they are comfortable. We enjoyed the food—and the desserts.

We took our time exploring the whole place. This is probably my favorite museum in the world. Unlike the Louvre, which is overwhelming and crowded, the Orsay is accessible and easy to maneuver. I also love their collections.

By this time, Bob had become our navigator in the Metro. I had told him how easy it was, and he figured it out. Since we left the museum in the afternoon, the trains were pretty full. We nearly lost Bernie on the return trip.

Quite a few people got off, so we didn’t have much time to board. Larry and I got on, Bob followed. As he reached back for Bernie, the doors closed. She was left on the platform looking terrified. With her total lack of sense of direction, being lost in a foreign city represented her very worst nightmare.

As we pulled out, Larry held up one finger. He hoped she’d get the message: get on the next train and meet us at the next station. But we weren’t at all sure she’d understand.

All the way to the next station we worried about her. I expected her to be in full panic mode. But she surprised us all when she was on the next train. We joined her and made it back to the timeshare together.

Since we’d had a delicious lunch, we decided to have apples and cheese again for dinner. We decided on an early evening since we planned for a busy following day.