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Day 42 and we’re now 6 weeks in and still having a blast.

Today was a “down” day in that we had nothing scheduled to do at all today. The lack of an agenda and need for a wake-up call were certainly welcome after the last two days. We gained critical mass and strolled to our local café for breakfast at 11AM.

It was partly cloudy as we finished breakfast and set out for Sacré-Cœur. When we exited the Metro it was pouring rain. I mean POURING. A quick decision was made and we headed back for the Metro to find something else to do.

Another thing on our “to do” list was Musee d’Orsay which was only a few stops away. We exited the station in light rain and quickly made it to the museum. The museum is on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world, by painters including Berthe Morisot, Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguin, and van Gogh. It is one of the largest art museums in Europe.

I’ve always wanted to visit this museum and am glad that we got to do so today. It was spectacular. The expanse of the former train station turned museum gave ample room for the extensive collection. There were some very famous pieces but more importantly there was a comprehensive progression of the art movement through the periods. I’ve included a few photos below.

We exited the museum a few hours after having entered and went to a café for lunch. As we wrapped up lunch the sun came out (see photos) so we headed back to Sacre Coeur. We exited the Metro at the closest station which was Abbesses. Little did we know that the station is a record holder. It holds the record for being the deepest station in Paris and weighs in at just under 120 feet. It's serviced by two spiral staircases. It was a LONG way up!

When we exited the station breathlessly (not from the beauty, but the climb!), we found bright sun and blue skies. And a LOT of people. We just snapped some pictures of the exterior and headed back down to find Moulin Rouge for David.

We were dismayed to see that the exterior was undergoing some minor modifications. Especially so because David really wanted to see it. But he was a trooper and ran through traffic to stand in front of the building. The distance between the two of us was so large that he hardly showed up in front of the building. A little photo editing by Lynn resolved that issue. Scroll through all the photos below and you’ll see what I mean.

Tomorrow is also a casual-ish day. Breakfast no earlier than 10:30 at a new place we found one Metro stop down followed by a noon entry to the Louvre. Nothing is planned in the afternoon but we’re looking forward to a 9PM dinner cruise on the Siene.