Day 16:
And just like that another trip to France was over.
Our first time in the South of France, particularly Pezenas, would not be our last. I dream of buying a little apartment there and spending half a year in that light.
Paris was better than ever: the weather was perfect; the apartment in the 16th was great; we tried new sights, but few new eats-we really are creatures of habit; we got to see Bette Midler at our new favorite, Josephine Chez Dumonet; the Michelin restaurants outdid themselves; the night fountains were spectacular, etc., etc., etc.
Dra. Claire-Marine Andros and our experience with French health care was the icing on the cake. It was very scary thinking husband had a DVT but the care he received was incredible and so reassuring. And at a price that did not bankrupt us.
Vive la France. We'll be back! (In September 2019)
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Saturday, September 15, 2018
Monet, 2 Louis, and a birthday!
Day 15
Today was husband's birthday. How wonderful to spend it in our favorite city on another brilliant day!
It was the Journees du Patrimoine weekend but we decided to visit the Musee Marmottan Monet. It was easy walking distance through gorgeous streets from our apartment on Rue Raynoard. Picture perfect buildings everywhere!
The Jardin du Ranelagh park looked inviting.
The Musee Marmottan Monet has long been a favorite because of my love of everything Monet. But the mansion itself is gorgeous and filled with incredible art.
The Monets take up the whole basement and are a chronology of Monet's career and his brilliance.
My favorite, the painting that gave the movement its name, Impression Sunrise, was back from loan and a joy to behold.
After this wonderful visit, we decided to get back to trying new things and headed out to the Louis Viutton Foundation in Bois de Boulogne. Uber was the easiest way there and very inexpensive.
We arrived and were immediately impressed with the Frank Gehri designed building. And we were surprised that entrance was free--because of the Journees du Patrimoine.
We were hungry and decided to have lunch in the Le Frank restaurant. It wasn't great but filled us up enough to enjoy our visit.
After lunch, we went up to the top and made our way down. The architecture is the star with the views as the costar. We loved it!
We wandered in the garden and I was able to capture my favorite picture of us this trip!
We wandered through the Bois de Boulogne and could see how families would love this park. There was a long-ish line to get into the Jardin de Acclimatation.
We directed ourselves to the Metro and were treated to more pretty buildings.
I'd gladly trade my reno for this reno! :)
Back at the apartment to pack and then toast the birthday boy with wine recommended by the nice man at the wine store. I loved the view from our apartment windows.
Tonight was a special treat: The night fountains at Versailles!
We were excited to return to Creperie Des 2 Portes in Versailles where we'd had a memorable dinner in 2012 with our niece (they gave husband free beer!). It had changed hands and was more "commercialized" rather than mom and pop-ish but the crepes were delicious and we had a nice table outside.
We made our way to Versailles were blown away! The sunset was magical, the fountains were gorgeous, the music was perfect, we loved everything.
We didn't stay for the fireworks because we had an early departure the next day. But, after one last peek at the Eiffel Tower as we walked home from the RER stop, we had decidedly had a wonderful last day and night in Paris!
Today was husband's birthday. How wonderful to spend it in our favorite city on another brilliant day!
It was the Journees du Patrimoine weekend but we decided to visit the Musee Marmottan Monet. It was easy walking distance through gorgeous streets from our apartment on Rue Raynoard. Picture perfect buildings everywhere!
The Jardin du Ranelagh park looked inviting.
The Musee Marmottan Monet has long been a favorite because of my love of everything Monet. But the mansion itself is gorgeous and filled with incredible art.
 |
| Sisley, 1891 |
 |
| Gustave Caillebotte, |
 |
| Monet, 1884 |
 |
| Renoir, 1881 |
My favorite, the painting that gave the movement its name, Impression Sunrise, was back from loan and a joy to behold.
After this wonderful visit, we decided to get back to trying new things and headed out to the Louis Viutton Foundation in Bois de Boulogne. Uber was the easiest way there and very inexpensive.
We arrived and were immediately impressed with the Frank Gehri designed building. And we were surprised that entrance was free--because of the Journees du Patrimoine.
We were hungry and decided to have lunch in the Le Frank restaurant. It wasn't great but filled us up enough to enjoy our visit.
After lunch, we went up to the top and made our way down. The architecture is the star with the views as the costar. We loved it!
We wandered in the garden and I was able to capture my favorite picture of us this trip!
We wandered through the Bois de Boulogne and could see how families would love this park. There was a long-ish line to get into the Jardin de Acclimatation.
We directed ourselves to the Metro and were treated to more pretty buildings.
I'd gladly trade my reno for this reno! :)
Back at the apartment to pack and then toast the birthday boy with wine recommended by the nice man at the wine store. I loved the view from our apartment windows.
Tonight was a special treat: The night fountains at Versailles!
We were excited to return to Creperie Des 2 Portes in Versailles where we'd had a memorable dinner in 2012 with our niece (they gave husband free beer!). It had changed hands and was more "commercialized" rather than mom and pop-ish but the crepes were delicious and we had a nice table outside.
We made our way to Versailles were blown away! The sunset was magical, the fountains were gorgeous, the music was perfect, we loved everything.
We didn't stay for the fireworks because we had an early departure the next day. But, after one last peek at the Eiffel Tower as we walked home from the RER stop, we had decidedly had a wonderful last day and night in Paris!
Friday, September 14, 2018
Art, food, and walking in Paris
Day 14
On today's agenda was a special Mucha exhibit at the Luxembourg Palace Museum. Our tickets were for 10am.
It was a beautiful morning. I loved every time we got to see this view from the Metro!
The flowers were spectacular, too!
We had loved the Mucha Museum in Prague in 2016. His massive paintings depicting his view of Czech history were astoundingly beautiful. This exhibit focused more on how he progressed in his craft. He was a pioneer in advertising posters which paid the bills while he developed as an artist. The posters were beautiful.
In the last rooms, smaller canvases that hinted at his Czech history vision were shown. His faces really speak to me.
After the exhibit and knowing we had lunch at 130pm at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, we decided to hit the La Cornue store and it was open this time.
We continued our wander toward Le Meurice, pausing at gorgeous doors, the National Assembly, the Place de Concorde,
This was our third time to lunch at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, 2 Michelin stars, and we enjoyed it greatly! It's a splurge but worth it!
The veggies over rock salt--simply delicious.
As I don't eat red meats or pork, this was my fish surprise. It's art on a plate and tasted as wonderful as it was beautiful.
It's such a gorgeous, yet comfortable, dining room
This was the cheese taster before the cheese cart.
Husband selected very good cheeses from the cart.
Husband got an after lunch drink. We really didn't want the meal to end! We ended up having a very nice conversation with the Manager who was politely shocked that we'd been to Pezenas!
After lunch, we headed back to the 16th for one last appointment with Dr. Andros (no charge this time). She gave us the results of the ultrasound (no DVT!!), showed me how to inject the Lovenox (I hated every second of it!), wrote a letter in English for husband's primary care provider, and gave us a prescription for compression hose which we got at the nearby pharmacy (E22/$26).
We could not have asked for a better doctor or experience with French health care. Total cost for 4 doctor visits, labs, ultrasound, 10 days of Lovenox, and compression hose was E363/$405. And everyone we encoutered could not have been more caring or competent. How I wish it was like this at home...
We wanted to see the sunset and decided to Metro back to the Orsay area. We had a drink at Le Drop Cafe, saw the sunset then had a late light dinner at Restaurant Lelo on Rue Bellechasse.
On today's agenda was a special Mucha exhibit at the Luxembourg Palace Museum. Our tickets were for 10am.
It was a beautiful morning. I loved every time we got to see this view from the Metro!
The flowers were spectacular, too!
We had loved the Mucha Museum in Prague in 2016. His massive paintings depicting his view of Czech history were astoundingly beautiful. This exhibit focused more on how he progressed in his craft. He was a pioneer in advertising posters which paid the bills while he developed as an artist. The posters were beautiful.
In the last rooms, smaller canvases that hinted at his Czech history vision were shown. His faces really speak to me.
After the exhibit and knowing we had lunch at 130pm at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, we decided to hit the La Cornue store and it was open this time.
Down the street, we popped into this pretty church, Basilica de Ste. Clothilde.
We continued our wander toward Le Meurice, pausing at gorgeous doors, the National Assembly, the Place de Concorde,
This was our third time to lunch at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, 2 Michelin stars, and we enjoyed it greatly! It's a splurge but worth it!
The veggies over rock salt--simply delicious.
As I don't eat red meats or pork, this was my fish surprise. It's art on a plate and tasted as wonderful as it was beautiful.
It's such a gorgeous, yet comfortable, dining room
This was the cheese taster before the cheese cart.
Husband selected very good cheeses from the cart.
Husband got an after lunch drink. We really didn't want the meal to end! We ended up having a very nice conversation with the Manager who was politely shocked that we'd been to Pezenas!
After lunch, we headed back to the 16th for one last appointment with Dr. Andros (no charge this time). She gave us the results of the ultrasound (no DVT!!), showed me how to inject the Lovenox (I hated every second of it!), wrote a letter in English for husband's primary care provider, and gave us a prescription for compression hose which we got at the nearby pharmacy (E22/$26).
We could not have asked for a better doctor or experience with French health care. Total cost for 4 doctor visits, labs, ultrasound, 10 days of Lovenox, and compression hose was E363/$405. And everyone we encoutered could not have been more caring or competent. How I wish it was like this at home...
We wanted to see the sunset and decided to Metro back to the Orsay area. We had a drink at Le Drop Cafe, saw the sunset then had a late light dinner at Restaurant Lelo on Rue Bellechasse.
The RER from L'Orsay got us back to Passy in no time. It had been a wonderful day in Paris!
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