Walking and famous paintings

This morning we woke up to the news informing us that a bunch of French government employees protesting the change of the retirement age to 62 from 60. In words, a fraction of the metro system was closed because people were on strike. People seem pretty unhappy about the change in the retirement age because the French seemed pretty proud of it. Today was filled with a lot of walking for us, which actually ended up being pretty cool because we got to see lots of interesting and less-touristy streets than we would have if we used the metro (despite how efficient it is).

Because of my allergy to nuts, I have been a little afraid of eating a pastry for breakfast and finding out there are nuts in it. So this morning I picked up some yogurt from the supermarket next to our hotel. The yogurt I got was in little pottery pots so I got an infusions of two of my favorite things: yogurt and pottery. I am exited because I can use them as water glasses when I get to Grenoble.

Me with my pot of yogurt!

Anyway, this morning we first went to the Musee rodin where there are a bunch of sculptures which are some of my favorite artwork. Here is some of what we saw:

Thinking hard like I will be when I force myself to learn French

Not as much thinking when you don't have a head

Pretty emotional angel

Le Baiser, Ouai!

We next walked to the Musee d'Orsay where there were beautiful paintings as well as hordes of people. It was worth it though: we saw so many famous paintings by Cezanne, Manet, Monet, Vlaminck, and more. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but the art was really amazing. I feel a bit guilty not having taken an art history class and I think I would understand the artwork better and appreciate it more. One of my favorite paintings was Olympia by Manet, which I bought a postcard of.

After the Orsay, we visited the Sainte-Chapelle Cathedral and sat outside Notre-Dame because there were so many people. We stopped at a cafe on the way back to the hotel (which was pretty far) and got a crepe and some beer. In case anyone was wondering, NEVER order Panache because it is sweet and super nasty. 1664 is a really good French (?) beer though.

Inside the Sainte-Chapelle

Lower part of Saint-Chapelle

Notre-Dame, Our Lady over 800 years old
Quasimodo must be there somewhere in that symphony of stone.

Paris street

Pretty street poster

Apparently there is a request to see more pictures of Herold, so here they are!

Herold ready for the long flight

Herold on top of the Arc de Triomphe
He got some pretty funny looks by a couple British tourists

Herold chillin by the Seine and the Louvre