Pleasant Suprises

On Monday we woke early again to go to the Museu D'Orangerie. I wasn't sure what was in the museum, but we thought that Monet's Water Lilies were supposed to be on display there. The museum was right near the Louvre so I got to see that area again without all of the crowds, which was great. There was barely anyone in the small museum when we got there and we wandered down to the bottom floor, but there wasn't much to see. I was a bit disappointed at that and was ready to leave but then we noticed there was another gallery on the entrance floor. We walked in and saw only a white wall, but then on the other side was the Water Lily paintings!! It was such a surprise! The room was rounded, but squarish too and there was a different Water Lily painting on each side. They were breathtaking. And those weren't the only ones, there was another room exactly the same on the other side, but with different paintings. We spent quite a long time studying them up close and sitting on the benches in the middle of the rooms just enjoying how beautiful they were.

After the museum we went to Notre Dame. We went inside and it was very beautiful with high ceilings and gorgeous stained glass windows. The alter was also very beautiful and the whole building was very intricate. We wanted to go all the way to the top but the towers were closed so we went most of the way up and the spread out before us was Paris! The view was wonderful! We could see the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, the Pantheon and just about everything. We could even climb up and see the bell Quasimodo rang and lower down the tower where he helped to hid Esmeralda.

After Notre Dame we took the train to Montmatre, which was another pleasant surprise. It's up on a very high hill that overlooks Paris. It was such a cute section of the city with lots of funky shops and restaurants down winding streets which lead into Paris. The day was beautiful and people were out everywhere. Children were playing and laughing in the park and tables from restaurant's lined the sidewalks. We had pizza for lunch at a table outside and then headed up the dozens of stairs that lead to Sacre Coeur -- the big cathedral on the hill. From the top we had yet another spectacular view of the city. People where lying out on the grassy hills by the cathedral eating lunch and soaking in the view of the city. A little map carved into the stone at the top showed where all the major buildings in Paris are so we looked at that a tried to spot all of them. After that we had to switch hostels, which took some time. I moved closer to the center of the Latin Quarter to Young and Happy hostel and Andy had to got to a hotel on the other side of the city. After that craziness we met up with Sam by the Eiffel Tower! It was great to see her after such a long time, especially in Paris of all places! We walked up some steps near a few museums that gave us a great sunny view of the Eiffel Tower. All the fountains were on and we just stood up there and talked for some time. Then she got us on the metro to Centre Pompidu and we said our goodbyes.

I mostly wanted to check out the Centre Pompidu because I remember pictures of it from French class. It's a modern museum that's inside out because there are stairs and escalators on the outside of the building. It looked exactly as I remembered from books in high school. Andy and I grabbed crepes at a nearby stand for dinner (mine was sucre et buerre -- sugar and butter, delicious!!) We sat on the concrete in front of the building which sloped up to the street and people watched for a bit.

After that we tried to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, but by the time we reached the front of the line the very top was closed. We still went up most of the way and got a fantastic view of the city at night. It was really neat, especially because we had been to every building we could see and point out.