We have been so lucky with the weather, but today our luck ran out. Grey skies and decidedly cooler too, to quite a downpour this afternoon.
Deciding to have breakfast out this morning, what better place than in a restaurant looking up the avenue to the Pantheon. Sitting there at our table, eating very decadent crepes filled with banana and chocolate for me, stewed apple and caramel for Colin, you couldn't ask for a better outlook.
We really thought we would take some pictures from the outside and not bother with the inside.
But once we got there we couldn't help but go inside and once again wow! This was built to satisfy Louis XV's wish to glorify the monarchy with a church dedicated to St-Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. It was deconsecrated in the revolution and declared the national Pantheon. It has since become the final resting place for some of France's most illustrious figures like Voltaire and Rousseau. Not to mention the architect himself, Souflot.
Underneath the Pantheon is a vast crypt which seemed to go on for ever.
Following this visit, we made our way to The Musee de Cluny. This had been recommended by one of Colin's work colleagues. It was founded in 1843 and is housed in two outstanding Paris monuments. The "northern thermal baths" and The Hotel de Cluny.
What was most interesting here were the tapestries, in particular The Lady with the Unicorn. One can only imagine the amount of hours involved with creating these masterpieces.
Off again we go to Musee Rodin. Created in 1916, the museum is housed in the sculptor's chosen location, the Hotel Biron and it's garden which he had rented from 1908. Even I recognized one of his works, The Thinker. The setting is beautiful, if only the weather had been kinder.
So that was our morning, which by all accounts was quite successful. The afternoon, not so much. We hopped on the Metro and to our disgust interrupted an Arab lady squatting in the middle of the stairwell having a pee, leaving behind a huge puddle for people to walk through. I hope she caught the look of disgust we gave her.
Deciding to have breakfast out this morning, what better place than in a restaurant looking up the avenue to the Pantheon. Sitting there at our table, eating very decadent crepes filled with banana and chocolate for me, stewed apple and caramel for Colin, you couldn't ask for a better outlook.
But once we got there we couldn't help but go inside and once again wow! This was built to satisfy Louis XV's wish to glorify the monarchy with a church dedicated to St-Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. It was deconsecrated in the revolution and declared the national Pantheon. It has since become the final resting place for some of France's most illustrious figures like Voltaire and Rousseau. Not to mention the architect himself, Souflot.
Underneath the Pantheon is a vast crypt which seemed to go on for ever.
Following this visit, we made our way to The Musee de Cluny. This had been recommended by one of Colin's work colleagues. It was founded in 1843 and is housed in two outstanding Paris monuments. The "northern thermal baths" and The Hotel de Cluny.
What was most interesting here were the tapestries, in particular The Lady with the Unicorn. One can only imagine the amount of hours involved with creating these masterpieces.
Off again we go to Musee Rodin. Created in 1916, the museum is housed in the sculptor's chosen location, the Hotel Biron and it's garden which he had rented from 1908. Even I recognized one of his works, The Thinker. The setting is beautiful, if only the weather had been kinder.
So that was our morning, which by all accounts was quite successful. The afternoon, not so much. We hopped on the Metro and to our disgust interrupted an Arab lady squatting in the middle of the stairwell having a pee, leaving behind a huge puddle for people to walk through. I hope she caught the look of disgust we gave her.
We went all the way to Musee Grevin, (wax museum), to find it was closed all this week.
Very disappointed, we stopped for lunch at an Irish Pub and planned a visit to the Catacombs. When we finally managed to locate it, they were closed too due to a fault in the ventilation system. Being underground, I guess this is pretty important.
No matter, we still had a ticket for the rest of our Hop on Hop off bus. We went to the pick up point, just in time for a huge downpour, so rather than being upstairs on the open deck we were downstairs. This caused rain to leak in which got into the electrics for our commentary, so we didn't even have the benefit of that. Not a very successful afternoon.
We gave up, returned to our neighbourhood, spent some time uploading photos for previous blogs at an internet cafe and had a late dinner. Last day tomorrow here in Paris!
Very disappointed, we stopped for lunch at an Irish Pub and planned a visit to the Catacombs. When we finally managed to locate it, they were closed too due to a fault in the ventilation system. Being underground, I guess this is pretty important.
No matter, we still had a ticket for the rest of our Hop on Hop off bus. We went to the pick up point, just in time for a huge downpour, so rather than being upstairs on the open deck we were downstairs. This caused rain to leak in which got into the electrics for our commentary, so we didn't even have the benefit of that. Not a very successful afternoon.
We gave up, returned to our neighbourhood, spent some time uploading photos for previous blogs at an internet cafe and had a late dinner. Last day tomorrow here in Paris!
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