Champs-Élysées, Jardin des Tuileries, Musée de l'Orangerie and the Arc de Triomphe

Hello all,

I slept fairly well last night and set off at 8.30am today. I caught the train over to the Arc de Triomphe to begin my walk down the Champs Élysées. I made my way down and stopped at Ladurée, famous for their macarons. I bought a box of 12 to enjoy and share once home and later found out that Dad bought me some from the exact same place when he was here in 2012 with Adam!

As I continued, I enjoyed seeing the facade of the Petit Palace and the gardens surrounding it. The adjacent Grand Palace is being restored for the Olympics and is mostly covered up. I also saw lots of temporary seating being set up - I’m assuming for the Tour d’France?

Then I arrived at the Jardin des Tuileries. Laid out in its present form in 1664, back then it was made for promenading. Today it was filled with picnickers and people relaxing in the sun on chairs by the fountain. I chose to do the latter for a while before walking to a post office to post a card to Pa. Then I did the former, I bought a fromage et jambon sandwich (which I ordered in French and the lady understood me - win!) and sat eating it by the fountain. It was glorious in the sun. The great weather this week has truly been soul restoring, a much needed break from the dark and coke back in Melbourne.

At 12 noon I had a booking at the Musée de l’Orangerie. Opened in 1852, the reason I wanted to go here was Monet’s water lilies. Housed in two purpose built rooms filled with natural light, Monet’s eight huge water lily paintings were magnificent. I had one of those moments where you round the corner and say “wow!” out loud. These paintings were so big (1.97 m tall, and collectively nearly 100 m long) that Monet had to paint them in sections. In the warmer months, he could paint outside using full scale studies in front of him. In the cooler months, he would continue painting in his studio and have to rely on his memory.

The Musée de l’Orangerie was chosen to house the paintings because of the fact the building is between the river and the gardens, which seemed suitable considering the paintings are of water lilies. Monet painted them in 1915, and in 1918 donated them to France as a gift of peace when World War I ended. In 1927 when he died, they were put on public display at his request.

I did two laps of the two oval rooms. The first, I took some photos. I asked a Japanese girl to take my photo and she took about 25 at all different angles – I felt like I was in a photo shoot! Her and her friends were very friendly. They then took a photo for a lady and her little girl, and the little girl felt so comfortable with them that she pulled out a book of drawings she had done to show them. It was very cute. On my second lap I soaked it all in with my eyes, trying to imprint the pinks, blues, purples and greens into my memory. Monet is one of my favourites and it was a real treat seeing these. I only realised that’s where they were when I rewatched ‘Midnight in Paris’, as they visit the museum. In 2015, I went to Giverny and visited Monet's house and garden which was incredible. It was great going to see these paintings today and piecing it all together.

I didn’t look at any other paintings in the museum, as I went to meet Ian and Robyn at the apartment at 1.30pm as they returned from Chartres. The light show they saw there looked amazing. We had a rest and then the three of us set off to ascend the Arc de Triomphe. The customer service here was great. I had prebooked us tickets, and they let us use a lift as Robyn’s leg and Ian’s back are quite sore once they have walked a bit each day. We still had to walk a few steps but not many. The view at the top was more than worth it. Sunny and beautiful, you could see for miles. We spotted Sacre Couer, the Palais Garnier (Opera House), Pantheon, Pere Lachaise Cemetery and of course the Eiffel Tower. In the other direction, we could see the more modern looking CBD area.

We walked a down the Champs Élysées together for a while, and then Ian and Robyn had a coffee while I headed off to look at some shops. I came away empty handed, not a fan of many of the summer fashion trends going on at the moment. But it was interesting looking anyway!

We had another rest and then headed out for dinner at a restaurant Ian’s friend recommended. I had beef bourguignon with pasta, Robyn a Caesar salad and Ian a steak. We then enjoyed a gelato at the same place I visited yesterday, which we sat and ate opposite Notre Dame while listening to some live music. We then caught the metro home.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox