No beating around the bush today. For Lennie’s complete (and already written) description of this day, simply copy this address into your browser window and find the October 31 post: aloveofeverythingfrench.blogspot.com/
As a natural and enthusiastic writer, Lennie immediately uploaded her description and photos after our return to the apartment, whereas Doug rested his legs and brain after five hours of museum walking by reading through the weekend edition of the International Herald-Tribune. Between the two of us, you’ll find enough photos here to satisfy your curiosity of what we saw this Halloween Day in Paris.
The Grand Palais exhibit of Renoir’s greatest paintings concluded on 10/31, so we took advantage of seeing both that one and, while we were in the building, the Byzantine exhibit. Getting inside was the only frustration and confirms the wisdom of buying a museum pass of some sort if you’re going to be in Paris for more than a couple days and intend to see the major attractions (they’re easily obtainable, but we were unsure of our museum intentions, so didn't buy). The pass allows one to bypass the waiting line, which occupied us for most of an hour as we watched pass-holders gain immediate access.
Time passed quickly thanks to one particular woman who arrived at the pass gate with adult children, it would seem, reluctantly in tow. The mother evidenced an air that truly could only be described as haughty. Her papers apparently weren’t quite up to snuff, and the indignity of having to actually stand in line with the rest of us was obviously just too much for her to bear. Eventually, she made it through the checkpoint, and we concluded the guides guarding the threshold simply caved in the face of her ongoing display. Our wait lasted another 10 minutes or so, and Doug stifled a chuckle once insidethe Renoir galleries to see the same individual and her family an arms-length away.
The Renoir exhibit was not to be missed, which of course anyone reading this post will. But the Master is well-represented in other great museums here such as the Musée d’Orsay and The Louvre. We saw some of the same paintings in the d’Orsay four years ago, the first two in the audio tour, in fact – the paired paintings of two couples in the dance. The audio guides were worth the additional 5 euros beyond the 10-euro fee for the exhibit.
The Byzantine exhibit suffered from our fatigue of already being on our feet for about three hours, so by the time we were half-way through exhibit, we were clicking off the audio descriptions before their finish. But as they say, you never learn less, so we undoubtedly are richer for having made the walk through the Grand Palais – especially thanks to Renoir.
We headed north from the Palais into the neighborhood of the Élysée Palace, our first venture to rue Saint-Honore, which Doug dubbed High-End Strasse. Just about every exclusive retailer you could think of was ensconced along this narrow street that passes the head of state’s official residence. After sizing up the environment, we decided a late lunch here wouldn’t be such a good idea, so we decided to have an early dinner instead. We located the Metro at Place de la Concorde and headed back to our familiar haunts in the 15th, and Le Suffren restaurant, which had been on our itinerary anyway. We sought out the restaurant in June when we were in a hotel in the 6th e for a few nights and had a great meal of moules and frites – mussels and fries. Lennie has been craving them since, so we satisfied that craving at this most hospitable eatery. The staff is welcoming and friendly, and the food is tremendous. Le Suffren is highly recommended (84, Avenue de Suffren, at the corner with Avenue de la Motte-Piquet, only a block from the Champs de Mars).
A stroll home down rue du Commerce partially worked off our huge bowls of moules, but it did in Doug – leading to his evening with the Herald-Tribune. Lennie didn’t hesitate to write about in her “Love of Everything French” blog about our day – the half-way point in this month of ours in Paris.
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