Paris Day 3, Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower, Saint Chapelle, Notre Dame

On our third day in Paris, we stopped for our croissants and fruit and hopped on the Metro for the Musee D'orsay, where we spent several hours.





The museum is housed in an old train station built between 1898 and 1900 that has been beautifully remodeled into a showcase for the most fabulous art.

We loved all of the clocks throughout the museum.

 

Most of the collections are French art dating from 1848 to 1915. They include paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. The Museum is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. As you walk from the center area of the building, beautiful alcoves line the sides like jewel cases displaying the works of these marvelous artists.

This is the dining room with its spectacular chandeliers.

Next we headed to the famous Eiffel Tower! We thought about Kate and Josh trying to meet here and not finding each other. It is a big tower surrounded with lots of people.

 
Here come the police!



Next, we walked along the river and saw the Ile De Cite.



We loved these quaint boats set up for romantic dining.








We always enjoy seeing the love locks on the bridges.





We crossed the bridge to stand in line to go inside Saint Chapelle Church. When we got close to the front, there was a sign that said we needed to empty our pockets. Bob had his little Swiss Army knife and it would be confiscated, so I quickly ran out and hid it among some trash. Luckily, when we came out, it was still there.

 

This church is so remarkable, because the colors downstairs are very dark and bold, with almost a Moroccan feel.

 

  

 

 Even the floors were beautiful.


Then when you climb up the long winding staircase to the second floor, its like going straight to Heaven with all of the light streaming through the Celestial walls of these stained glass windows.











The balcony off the second floor.

Next, we were off to see Notre Dame.

 



More gorgeous stained glass windows.

 We were lucky enough to hear the organ and a singer performing the pre-mass music.

When we left the cathedral, we saw this cute Bird Man sharing seeds not only with the birds, but also with tourists who wanted to get in on the fun. It seemed like this was a daily ritual for him, probably the best part of his day.

The birds were very attracted to these cute ladies.

Oops!



When we got off the Metro, we were starving, so we stopped in a little restaurant and ordered this wonderful meal!

Then we walked around a little to explore our neighborhood. This is the view of the canal from a little bridge behind our hotel.

  

We were happy to open our hotel windows to the noisy street below and fell sound asleep.