Paris, Day 2, Afternoon--10/1/12

There was much to do after the Louvre.  No rest for the travelers who are only in Paris for 4 days!  There was tons more to see...and eat.  Let me backtrack a moment and describe a quick stop we made BEFORE that delicious chocolate crepe...

Monet.  Ah, Monet.  I had first learned from him from my dear friend, Annie Hight-to-the-Shoe.  (Oh, she was/is the best.  She's been to Paris MANY times, and I thought of her often while there.)  I first saw his paintings in her bedroom on William Street, and I was always taken with his soft brushstrokes and pastels...always so calming.  We were about to skip the museum he created for Parisians to take a break from the hectic activity of city life, and I'm SO GLAD we didn't.  Musee de l'Orangerie was breathtaking.  It's hidden at the other end of the Tuilieries Gardens, opposite the Louvre, and I couldn't have wished for a more perfect opposite end to that overwrought, overguilded art spectrum.  Floor to ceiling water lilies...each representing a different season or time of day...and each with benches in front of it for one to contemplate and relax.  It was so wonderful...blissful...beautiful.

We wandered from there to the high end of the Parisian food scene, because I really just wanted to look at food.  Just.  Look.  I wanted to window shop and gaze upon food that would cost more than a week of my salary, and did my man find just what I wanted.  Shop next to shop of gorgeous window displays, truffle cheese, and candy with so much sugar that you got hopped up just looking at it.  It was awesome.  Awe.  Some!

Take a look at a few of these foods that cost more than your life (well, if you're a teacher, like me that is...):

After another ride on the quick and efficient Metra, we took a bit of a rest and headed back out to wander around the Pantheon.

Dead people live there.  French dead people.  It was okay...gorgeous both inside and out, but well...I mean, Voltaire WAS kind of a big deal, as were Madame Curie and Alexandre Dumas, but whatevs.  I got my kids some REALLY cool tee-shirts there, though!  Check out this Joan of Arc number:

Oh, the little shops!  (Really, more on these later...I PROMISE!)

We made our way over to the Odeon district after this and ate at a lovely little cafe called les editeurs, where I ate some amazing lamb and had another fantastic dessert.  MORE CHOCOLATE!

It's like Chili's lave cake...DONE RIGHT.  Oh, Paris...

Finally, we stumbled  home on our full tummies, but we had to make a stop at a place called Album first.

THOUSANDS of American comic books.  Did you know Parisians are ape for DC and Marvel!?!  Neither did I!  It was UH-MAZING!  Buffy comics...Doctor Who toys, gadgets, & books...more Superman than even I could handle...BACK TO THE FUTURE toys in MINT CONDITION for sale!!!  Oh, it was glorious.  And, showing every bit of restraint known to our nerd driven beings...we walked out...WITHOUT ONE THING.  I mean, I did have to save money for the little shops, right???