Au revoir, Paris!

Today was our last day in Paris. First thing tomorrow morning, we head out to the train station to travel south. Not sure if we'll have such a good internet connection down there as we have had here, so I may or may not have blog updates for you.

Today we started out at the Musee D'Orsay. It was by far our favorite! We saw tons of paintings by famous artists: Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Klimt, Cezanne, Delacroix, Van Gogh, Gauguin, and Pissarro. We spent a long time there because we enjoyed it so much.

We left and took a little walk to locate (once and for all) the place where Julia Child had lived. The other day, when we happily stumbled upon her street, I didn't know which house number. So I researched, and was able to get a good look at it today. Let me just say: she lived in a beautiful part of town!

Because our wanderings had led us near the Hotel National des Invalides (aka: Army Museum) we decided to go in. B really enjoyed their exhibit on France in WWI and WWII. I didn't mind it too much, but I have to admit I was ready to go when he was!

Next we decided to hop on the subway and visit the Conciergerie, which was originally (in the 6th century) a royal palace. First of all: How cool is that?! It was nothing like Versailles, but the fact that it was so old totally trumped the gilded bronze of the other palaces. Anyway, over the centuries, its purpose changed. During the French Revolution (and the Reign of Terror) it was used as a prison to temporarily hold people who had been called to attend their Revolutionary Tribunal trials. Meaning, they were called to decide whether or not they were headed for the guillotine! This is where Marie Antoinette was kept for 76 days until her execution. Yikes.

Our last stop of the day was les Deux Maggots, a cafe that was once one of Hemingway's regular haunts. Unfortunately, today it was really nothing to write home about. Ha! I love the irony of that. Anyway, we ordered a quick meal there and let our legs rest a bit.

We came home the long way (by subway) so that we could stop and pick up some souvenirs, stop by the train station and activate our train tickets, and pick up one last Parisian pastry. A yummy chocolate/croissant twist thingy for me, a delicious chocolate-filled pastry for B! I even lucked out because we stumbled upon a beautiful garden with lots of photo ops (notice the statue in the background?)!

(Total steps: 18,200)