Paris

We've made it to the last stop on our European vacation. Paris is lousy with tourists at the moment (of course, we add to that teaming mass of humanity gawking at buildings and statues, etc.). Our hotel has limited Wifi (read: pay by the hour), so this may be the last post until we return.

Although we briefly contemplated going to witness the end of the Tour de France, we decided we would skip the party of thousands of spectators and just watch the final bit on tv. Didn't miss the crowds at all...plus we could watch while having our afternoon lie down.

The weather is lovely - sunny and warm but not hot. Perfect summer weather. Not much more to say but we're enjoying the food, the weather, the sights, etc. Expecting to see a Eugene Atget photo show on Tuesday (he took photos, many many many photos of Paris...I'm not sure he photographed anything else). Who know what other things we'll see. I'm sure it'll all be good, or at least interesting.

Southern Moravia Gallery

I've posted my gallery for Southern Moravia at my website. I will also change the rotating gallery link on the right side of the blog to be my France 2011 gallery (in case you were getting tired of Iceland). Enjoy!

Last day in Paris

The day started a bit cooler than it's been the past few days. Clouds rolled in and brought some morning showers that quickly cleared. It appears that we're staying just ahead of the rain that's coming to Paris and following right behind the rain in Amsterdam. It's been lovely to be reminded what summer is like in "normal" parts of the world - I've been able go entire days without wearing a sweater. It feels decadent.
After a morning run around the Place des Vosges park, we headed over to the Maison Européene de la Photographie and saw great photography. The museum is housed in an incredible building - a beautiful building that has the appearance of having been an historical house. Definitely worthwhile.
After the photo displays, we took the Metro to the Tuileries where we got a chance to work on our own photographs - there's an amusement park there with rides and games and colorful carny stuff to gawk at.
From there we walked over to the Musée d'Orsay and went to the Manet show. The crowds were a bit much for me but the art was great. I found a Camille Claudel sculpture of an old woman that I really liked. We had a little lunch in the museum restaurant which is incredibly beautiful - high painted ceilings with enormous crystal chandeliers. Definitely worth a visit - their chocolat chaud is super yummy.
We headed back on the Metro during rush hour so it was a squeeze of humanity. When we walked in the room, it appeared there was a bit of a haze in the room. When I looked at some of my possessions, I realized a layer of dust was covering all exposed surfaces. There was construction going on in the room next to ours and the hammering had sent dust into our room. I spent the next 20 mins angrily wiping down surfaces and shaking out clothes. I can't say I'll miss this hotel. It's very quiet but the room is really tiny (about 14x14). We'll find another place the next time around.
We head out via train for Amsterdam in the early afternoon. Bye bye France. It's been a lot of fun.

Musée d'Orsay

Paris Tuesday

Last night, we had dinner with some friends from Seattle. The restaurant was called Le Petit Marché and was quite yummy. Wine was flowing, chins were wagging - it felt quite French. After the meal we wandered down by the river in pursuit of ice cream (because, God knows, I need more food). By the time we finished ice cream and a stroll it was after midnight and some of the friends were pretty wiped (they had flown in that afternoon from home).
Today, we have plans to visit a museum or two and who knows what else (probably a nap because of the late night yesterday).

Where Brassaï and Atget meet

For all my photo pals