Paris 2019 Day Five

With apologies to W. C. Fields, we went to Paris today, but it was closed. I went out early to buy bread and learned that our favorite boulangerie is closed on Mondays. When we arrived at the Musée d'Orsay, we discovered that it closes Mondays as well. About 50% of the shops are closed and 30% of the restaurants are shuttered. Happily the Orangerie was in business, so we spent the morning there. We crossed back over the river to a wonderful bistro near the d'Orsay for a winning lunch, the best food of the entire trip. We rode the Metro to Charles de Gaulle–Étoile where only one exit was open; it dropped us a couple of blocks from the Arc de Triomphe. It seems that Xi Jinping is in town so nobody was going anywhere, and the police were out in force. So after an interesting, but not totally fruitful day, we took a very long Metro ride home and the day was gone. 

 The Rue Rollin as the sun came up: off to 

the boulangerie

 A small one street detour to see our local

Wallace Fountain

 We pass by Hemmingway's house every time we

head out in the direction of the Rue Cardinal Lemoine

 I thought we had the good fortune of no crowds at the d'Orsay but 

no such luck: it was closed

 A lovely view of the Seine on a beautiful morning

 The galleries where Monet's Nymphéas are displayed were designed in

concept by the artist himself and are marvelous

 Kristina standing next to one of may favorite bits: 

a brilliant pop of yellow

 Paul Cézanne 

 Henri Matisse

 Amadeo Modigliani

 Wassily Kandinski

 Place de la Concorde from the Orangerie

 Headed through the Tuileries back to the Left Bank for lunch

 The Grand Palais in the distance

 Screen grab from Street View of Les Antiquaires without the 

street  being all torn up and full of barriers and equipment

as it was when we were there

 The perfect bistro: the best food we ate

 SKT had soupe à l'oignon

AW had a tuna steak with olive tepanade

 I had steak frites

 Kris had roast lamb with gratin de pommes de terre

 Everyone was pleased

And this guy was in heaven

 A charming well-worn bistro with lots of locals and business types

 This was as close as we could get to the Arc de Triomphe

Because Xi Jinping was in town, bless his heart

This was a wonderful day with more to come. This, however, is all for now. 

OXO

D.