Au Revoir Paris - Day 32

Our last night in Paris was spent at our favorite little restaurant La Gueuze for, you got it, moulles again.  We met a really nice couple from New Zealand and enjoyed visiting with them.  And then we walked.  Our last Paris walk and, I confess, we kinda acted like the young Parisians and, SPOILER ALERT KIDS, made-out on the streets just like the Parisians!

This morning we were up early and headed out to the Louvre and the Musee d'Orsay.  The Louvre was PACKED even though we were early and had passes to avoid the long lines.  Lot's of groups, mostly Asian, and crowds, crowds, crowds.  Not mine and Gordon's favorite thing.

Entry Hall

Obviously, some fantastic works of art.

 The famous parquet floors......

The passage to the Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa "room" and that's her from a far.

And the little lady close up!

Somehow I think this looks like Ken Wright and Gordon!  Cheeky!

Death by Asp.....ouch!

Nike!

This one's for you Nat!

A miniature statue of Zues.

Fabulous ceilings rivaling the Sistine!

Tom and Ken!

Venus de Milo

This is for you Nat!

Aphrodite

Egyptian Sphinx dating from 2723 B.C.!

My personal favorite...The Three Graces.

Do ya think Mary Magdalene is really buried under there?

Back out on the street it's lunch time and "Frenchies" as Gordon calls them, are having their sandwiches and salads sitting by lovely fountains.  It's really, really warm today and the weather has been unexpectedly nice all week.  We really lucked out except that we didn't have cool enough clothing.

We headed across the Seine and went to the Musee d'Orsay for the next couple of hours.  Thankfully, you cannot take photos in the d'Orsay Museum and I think, in part, that's why it was NOT crowded.  It's such a lovely building with a huge football-sized arched glass ceiling.  It's light, bright and well laid out and houses amazing paintings and sculpture too.  I have to say, Gordon and I like it much better than the Louvre.

After our walk in the d'Orsay our feet were tired and we were hungry so we grabbed a salad and ice tea and then moseyed back to our hotel to await the shuttle back to Beauvois airport for our return to Edinburgh.  The shuttle was right on time and we say goodbye to the St. Jacques.  We would definitely recommend this hotel.  It was clean, comfortably furnished and in a GREAT location.

Unfortunately, the shuttle dropped us off about two hours before we could even check in for our flight and the very small airport was overflowing with passengers.  There wasn't a place to sit so we meandered outside and found a place in the shade in a grassy area and laid down and read and napped until it was time to check in. 

Once back in Edinburgh we couldn't believe the temperature.  It had to be at least 70 degrees at 9:30!  What the heck?  Who says there's no global warming?  We got to our car and started the hour and one half journey back to Moffat.  Switching off the driving duties about halfway, I took over for the last 30 miles into Moffat.  The skies were completely clear and you could see the Milky Way and stars and planets while traveling on this pitch black road.  Once we hit the Beef Tub there were very scattered thin mists trailing across the road.  Rather mystical and a bit scary!  We got home exactly at 11:00pm.

So here we are safely back in Moffat and the day has dawned GORGEOUS with a sky that is reminiscent of some of the paintings we saw in the Paris museums.

Heavenly!

We are ready for our last few days here.  A run to the grocery store and shops is in order for today.  And, of course, laundry.  And probably a hike in the hills or down by the river.  It's supposed to be beautiful in Scotland for the rest of our stay.

We so enjoyed being in Paris and are happy to say that "we did it"!   The Parisian's are an interesting group of people to observe - full of confidence, sexy, polite, and independent with a good sense of humor.  No one should be shy to visit there or nervous about not speaking the language. 

We feel so fortunate to have shared another great city together and look forward to our next adventure!  St. Petersburg, Bruges, Amsterdam, Switzerland?  The world awaits and we are thinking Northern Europe.

But home first!