Last day

We used our last day to get to the Rodin museum. We had missed this stop earlier in the week due to long lines and a late start. This museum houses the famed sculptors statues and works. The museum is located in a house Rodin had rented at the turn of the century and used as a workshop. The gardens surrounding the museum has many of his famous statues on display.

We also went back to the Army Museum to view the sections on WW I and II that we missed and also stopped at the Palais de ll Découverte which is the Paris version of the Science museum. It’s target market are young students so the displays were boring. However the museum is housed in a grand old building with a huge dome and columns so it was a nice stop to admire the architecture.

For our last night we went out to a decent restaurant that served traditional French food. The Bouillon Racine is housed in a building with classic mirrors, windows paneling and metal work. It was your typical 2 and half hour affair ending with delicious deserts which #4 helped finish for everyone.

More museums!

It was another day of visiting museums. Our itinerary was based on the geographic area of the museums. Today we headed out to the Arts et Métiers museum and later the Picasso museum.  The Arts et Métiers is a museum of industrial and tech inventions. It was fascinating to see the actual devices and scale models from the 1800s and newer.  Afterwards we walked over to the Picasso museum which is the largest collection of his works in the world as he and his family donated most of the items in the museum.

Late Start

We didn’t get out of the apartment till 11a on New Year’s day. Our goal was to visit the Musée d’Orsay and the Rodin museum. But when we arrived at the Orsay the security checkin line was around the next block. Lots of museums are closed on Tuesdays including the Louvre so it ends up busier at the remaining open museums. We waited for 90 minutes to enter but we were rewarded to a great collection of recognizable art from Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh just to name a few.  Because of the late start, long line to enter and the time we spent visiting the art, we ran out of time to go to the Rodin museum.

New years eve

Its new years eve and it’s been busy everywhere we have visited. We headed back to the Latin quarter to re visit the Cluny Museum and the Panthenon.  We had already been to both sites during our last trip. As we were in the neighborhood of where we stayed during our previous trip we visited our old street and had lunch at our favorite gryo shop. The prices are still the same, 5 Euros for a gryo and fries. And just to add more mileage to our sore feet, we walked back to the Louvre for a another visit to check out the Egyptian area and it was super crowded.

We have some friends that hosted a new year’s party at their apartment. Our original plan was to go to the Champs Elysees for all the festivities but we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit with friends and meet new people. It ended up being a fun evening with great food, drinks and conversation. The boys were on their own and found a restaurant nearby that was open but they didn’t seem to enjoy the food or the conversation, but they had their smartphones.

Shopping like the locals

We took a detour and went out to the farmers market at Bastille. Our friend Matt was in town and recommended we stop by to visit and experience the nicest market on Paris. The market was impressive, located in the grassy area between two streets and spanning the distance between two metro stops. The crafts, produce, and food looked great and the prices were reasonable. We bought a few baked good and snacks for the boys before we headed back on the museum tours.

Late to the Louvre

Today was our day to get the multi day museum pass and start seeing the historic museums. We were not sure if we could get our moneys worth for the multi day pass but after compiling the list on a spreadsheet, we decided to get the pass and have the convenience of skipping the ticket line.

I think we were out of sync as we could not leave the apartment till after 11a today.  It was nice to go at a relaxed schedule vs the tightly planned itinerary of Paris trips past. The downside of heading out late are the long lines. When we arrived at the pyramid entrance the queue was at the end of the designated area but the line moved quickly. When we got about halfway, one of the security guys pointed at me and said something in French. I wasn’t sure what he said but he opened the stantion belt and motion me to the entrance door. I walked through and pointed at the rest of the family and next thing you know we had cut to the front of the line. None of us were sure why the guard had us skip the line but we were grateful.

The museum seemed empty at first but once we hit some of the notable pieces in the collections we had flashbacks to our last visit dealing with the huge tour groups. At least fewer people were carrying selfie sticks now. We did stop by the room with the Mona Lisa and sure enough it was packed with folks struggling to see the painting. Based on the cameras in the air I think many were satisfied with just a photo!

The boys enjoyed this second trip to the museum. I think it's because there were no expectations of viewing anything in particular. So when we did hit a few items they recognized from books or school we could stop and actually discuss the importance of it.

Musée des Arts Forains

We spent the morning at the museum of the carnival arts. It features vintage displays of items found in carnivals from 100 years ago including working merry go rounds, games and photo boards.  This museum is open only at the end of the year so it was a great opportunity to visit.  The boys were not young enough to enjoy the museum but didn’t have a choice…