Paris Day 9 - Hello, Wall!! Excuse Me While I Run into You...
February 11, 2012
It is official. I've caught Adele's plague. It's not bad today, but I expect tomorrow's flight home to be interesting. We have two DayQuil doses left. I think one before takeoff and one after takeoff might be warranted.
And I don't think I've totally hit the wall yet, but collectively, the wall has been hit. Adele's been draggy today. I've been rendered mostly mute and moderately passive. I'm sure neither one of us are a total prize today. But since this is our last full day in Paris, we need to make do and keep moving forward.
The breakfast at the hotel has been pretty quiet over the last few days. But this morning...apparently, we weren't the only people who wanted to take it easy. We found a space to sit, barely. And the people coming in behind us had to wait. I'm glad we didn't have to wait.
We made our way to the Museum (Musee) D'Orsay. And here, we encountered the one thing we haven't had to worry about since we started on our trip...a line. We'd bought tickets to most things prior to leaving Chicago. So we'd walk in, hand over our pre-purchased tickets and keep going. This time...not so much. The line moved with a purpose, but we still had to wait outside for a while. In case I haven't mentioned this before, it's kind of cold out right now. But I was wearing my new Parisian hat (made in China), so I was slightly warmer than I would have been yesterday.
There wasn't a massive wait, so soon enough, we were in the museum. What a museum. This is the first museum on our trip that specifically said, No Photos. Honestly, I'm cool with that. When I'm told I can take pictures, I feel like it means I *have to* take pictures. Without having to take pictures, I could leisurely walk around and look more at the art. There were a few things that made me stop in my tracks. I'll put links in eventually, but there was a Renoir piece that both Adele and I have had in our lives since we were little. It was "Two Girls at the Piano.". Something about seeing that there was just lovely.
We walked through the exhibits (Van Gogh!! There have been many Doctor Who references on this trip and I didn't even think about the Van Gogh reference until I saw the painting that The Doctor noticed was wrong which made him go back to meet Vincent) and eventually needed to make our way towards a light lunch (cheese sandwich and crepes!!). And our last real stop in Paris was finally seeing the Arc de Triomphe. We saw it from afar the other day, but got tired, so we didn't get a close-up view. Today, really did. It was amazing. And the detail...wow. There is so much here in Paris and everything is just so amazing.
We made our way back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner. Same with Rome, we had a big dinner planned for our final night. We were on our way to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. This is a 2 Michelin starred restaurant and is number #19 on the San Pelligrino's list of the top restaurants in the world. We knew this would be a big one. And we went all out. Or as all out as we could do while on vacation. We dressed up (some more than others - Adele...she has the accessories pouches, me...not so much). We left with plenty of time (had to kill a few minutes in the Mono Prix) and we went in with big expectations.
This is not our first stop along the San Pelligrino's list. When we went to Lima, we ended up at Astrid y Gaston (#42) and had their tasting menu. Love. Now, L'Atelier's tasting menu was significantly more pricy (199€ - do the conversion with today's Euro/Dollar conversion and the cost is $262...not counting wine) and was out of the question. We went with the wine, two starters and two entrees. I had dessert (Dude!!) and we both had tea/coffee (the'/caffe). The price still wasn't inexpensive (though, I don't need to share), but the meal was amazing. I will be putting pictures up on Foodspotting shortly, but let's just say I had steak. I'm not a steak person, but this was glorious. I ate the whole thing. And the dessert...The Dessert!! White chocolate sphere which covered a hibiscus sorbet, then with a drizzle of hibiscus syrup. Nom nom nom...
Post-dinner, we did have to stop back at the Mono Prix for tissues (the cold isn't full-blown yet, but the congestion is definitely making itself known), croissants (for breakfast tomorrow) and water. Oh yeah, we're living large on a Saturday night. But we had to pack for tomorrow's flights. I'm now starting to worry about the breakables. The wine, Limoncello and glassware...it would not be cool if they broke. They're all wrapped in bubble wrap, then again in clothes, and all are separated from all sides of the suitcase. I think I should be ok...hopefully...
It'll be an early morning. The flight is at 11a. And we're off to a tweaky airport. It's gonna be interesting...
It is official. I've caught Adele's plague. It's not bad today, but I expect tomorrow's flight home to be interesting. We have two DayQuil doses left. I think one before takeoff and one after takeoff might be warranted.
And I don't think I've totally hit the wall yet, but collectively, the wall has been hit. Adele's been draggy today. I've been rendered mostly mute and moderately passive. I'm sure neither one of us are a total prize today. But since this is our last full day in Paris, we need to make do and keep moving forward.
The breakfast at the hotel has been pretty quiet over the last few days. But this morning...apparently, we weren't the only people who wanted to take it easy. We found a space to sit, barely. And the people coming in behind us had to wait. I'm glad we didn't have to wait.
We made our way to the Museum (Musee) D'Orsay. And here, we encountered the one thing we haven't had to worry about since we started on our trip...a line. We'd bought tickets to most things prior to leaving Chicago. So we'd walk in, hand over our pre-purchased tickets and keep going. This time...not so much. The line moved with a purpose, but we still had to wait outside for a while. In case I haven't mentioned this before, it's kind of cold out right now. But I was wearing my new Parisian hat (made in China), so I was slightly warmer than I would have been yesterday.
There wasn't a massive wait, so soon enough, we were in the museum. What a museum. This is the first museum on our trip that specifically said, No Photos. Honestly, I'm cool with that. When I'm told I can take pictures, I feel like it means I *have to* take pictures. Without having to take pictures, I could leisurely walk around and look more at the art. There were a few things that made me stop in my tracks. I'll put links in eventually, but there was a Renoir piece that both Adele and I have had in our lives since we were little. It was "Two Girls at the Piano.". Something about seeing that there was just lovely.
We walked through the exhibits (Van Gogh!! There have been many Doctor Who references on this trip and I didn't even think about the Van Gogh reference until I saw the painting that The Doctor noticed was wrong which made him go back to meet Vincent) and eventually needed to make our way towards a light lunch (cheese sandwich and crepes!!). And our last real stop in Paris was finally seeing the Arc de Triomphe. We saw it from afar the other day, but got tired, so we didn't get a close-up view. Today, really did. It was amazing. And the detail...wow. There is so much here in Paris and everything is just so amazing.
We made our way back to the hotel to rest a bit before dinner. Same with Rome, we had a big dinner planned for our final night. We were on our way to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. This is a 2 Michelin starred restaurant and is number #19 on the San Pelligrino's list of the top restaurants in the world. We knew this would be a big one. And we went all out. Or as all out as we could do while on vacation. We dressed up (some more than others - Adele...she has the accessories pouches, me...not so much). We left with plenty of time (had to kill a few minutes in the Mono Prix) and we went in with big expectations.
This is not our first stop along the San Pelligrino's list. When we went to Lima, we ended up at Astrid y Gaston (#42) and had their tasting menu. Love. Now, L'Atelier's tasting menu was significantly more pricy (199€ - do the conversion with today's Euro/Dollar conversion and the cost is $262...not counting wine) and was out of the question. We went with the wine, two starters and two entrees. I had dessert (Dude!!) and we both had tea/coffee (the'/caffe). The price still wasn't inexpensive (though, I don't need to share), but the meal was amazing. I will be putting pictures up on Foodspotting shortly, but let's just say I had steak. I'm not a steak person, but this was glorious. I ate the whole thing. And the dessert...The Dessert!! White chocolate sphere which covered a hibiscus sorbet, then with a drizzle of hibiscus syrup. Nom nom nom...
Post-dinner, we did have to stop back at the Mono Prix for tissues (the cold isn't full-blown yet, but the congestion is definitely making itself known), croissants (for breakfast tomorrow) and water. Oh yeah, we're living large on a Saturday night. But we had to pack for tomorrow's flights. I'm now starting to worry about the breakables. The wine, Limoncello and glassware...it would not be cool if they broke. They're all wrapped in bubble wrap, then again in clothes, and all are separated from all sides of the suitcase. I think I should be ok...hopefully...
It'll be an early morning. The flight is at 11a. And we're off to a tweaky airport. It's gonna be interesting...
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