We must finally be in vacation mode. It's Sunday morning, we've had a delightful petit dejeuner (which is breakfast that is anything but petit). I can bearly stay awake I am so filled with goodness from the cows and chickens of France. This morning the biggest plans we have are to pack and remain vertical...
Yesterday we wandered around the city and spent several hours in the Italian section of the Louvre. The bad part of this is fighting the crowds who look for the Mona Lisa. The good part is that once you have passed the room the Mona Lisa is in, the crowds thin and they are much more polite. Sterling has been a revelation in the museums, taking the lead as he moves us from one section/period/origin of the works to another.
He should teach history because he makes connections between the politics, wars, leaders and the 'normal' people, the modes of thought and available tools to what we are seeing. The other tour members have remarked on his ability at 20 to see and think globally using history as a benchmark.
I have turned the map and plans to him, because he has really brought this visit alive for Bill and I in a wonderful and unexpected way. Thank you foothills history and literature programs, he may be a science and numbers guy but you've helped to create a well-rounded adult who has the chance to become a citizen of more than his provincial area.
Before the Louvre we stopped at the Musee Gustave Moreau. His work depressed me because he left so many unfinished projects (with lots of excuses) that it reminded me of my own process. After the Louvre we visited Musee de Cluny which is an active archaeological dig in the center of St. Germaine. The church is medieval and underneath are the remains of the Gallo-roman baths from the time that Paris was known as Lutetia to the 'civilized' world. The loveliest aspect of the visit was lying in the medieval garden that is part of the city but somehow set apart. Delicious.
For today, we will walk and enjoy the area Opera Garnier until mid-day then head off for the Latin Quarter and St. Germain des Pres - back to our first hotel and it is the final one of our stay.
Today is the day we visit Shakespeare and Co. and look for the stairway from "Midnight in Paris". Perhaps we will do this at midnight with a bottle of wine from Burgundy.
