Un Parisien d'un jour!

My feet were getting pretty sore from all the walking--I logged 14 miles on Thursday! But I'd rescheduled my Paris Greeter walk with Antoine (could be a movie title--My Walk With Antoine) so I made Friday morning low-key, just a visit to the Musee de L'Orangerie. A short metro ride brought me to the Jardin les Tuileries, another one of the huge gardens where joggers jog, people sit and soak up the springtime sun, lovers do what lovers in Paris do. I found the museum easily and had prepped myself on what to expect with the help of Rick Steves' guidebook.

The water lilies panorama by Monet was serenely impressive. A quiet and peaceful interlude amidst the normal Paris hustle and bustle. You can even take non-flash pictures. Here's one that give you an idea of the scope of the paintings. And another to show a section of one work.

Downstairs in the museum you see a collection of works by the great Impressionists. It's not a huge collection--that suited me fine. I snapped a few pictures of paintings with musical instruments. Here's an example by Matisse: "Femme Au Violon".

Paul Guillaume was a patron to many of the painters and he had a fine art collection that he kept in his apartment. I found the re-creation of his salon in miniature fascinating:

I returned to the hotel and plotted my strategy for having lunch prior to my Paris Greeter walk at 2 PM. I had found a couple of Grand Cafes de Paris in the Steves guidebook and they were in easy walking distance of the hotel. It was a sunny spring day and the Cafe Bonaparte's dining area was on the sunny side of the street so I decided to dine at the Cafe Mabillon on the Boulevard St. Germain. It had a bit of shade--a little noisy due to traffic but there was no shortage of people to watch and I had a wonderful salad and a beer to fortify myself for the walk.

Then it was off to meet Antoine at Place Gambetta. He gave great Metro directions via email so I had no problem showing up a little before our 2 PM meeting time. Place Gambetta is northeast of the central tourist areas of museums and monuments. His original plan was to show me the neighborhood where he lives--an area called Belleville that used to be outside the city limits. He knew that I was only in town for a couple of days so he changed the trip (with my OK) to be a walk from our meeting place all the way back to the vicinity of my hotel.

All walks in Paris are short to Parisiens ("the city is only 9 kilometers wide"-Antoine). He showed me many places along alleys and neighborhoods I otherwise wouldn't have seen. His English was good; he only occasionally had to reach for a word to explain what we were seeing. It was a great experience to have a relaxed 4-hour conversation while we strolled along. I saw many sights and learned insider Parisien info that otherwise I would have missed.

I only did 12 miles on Friday. Here's a shot of Antoine and me in the tourist area/transport hub near the Odeon Metro station:

Antoine helped me find Le Procope, a restaurant founded in 1686 where Benjamin Franklin and Robespierre were among historical luminaries who dined there. I had tried earlier in the day using directions from the Rick Steves guidebook with no success. Turns out it's very close to the Odeon Metro station so I went there for dinner. Had a great meal of half bottle of an excellent white wine, salad, baked trout and creme brulee--all for less than 40 euros! No wonder it's lasted so long--the restaurant has great food, location and value!

No more walking for me this day except to go back to the hotel and lie down in bed with book and guidebooks to plan departure. I did a little bit of packing and organizing before calling it a night.