Paris

Day 15 - May 25




Another hot day in Paris, and we're hoofing it on foot. No bus today and we headed out looking for a green wall. No, not the one in Fenway Park, that one's a monster. This one is at Musee du Quai Branly (mouthful, isn't it?) Such a unique sight to find in a sea of concrete and asphalt. The entire exterior of this wall was covered with living, blooming, thriving plants. Wish I'd had some binoculars for a close up look at all the neat plants tucked into the side of the building.


Next we walked on to a huge inner city park by the Seine River called Parc du Luxembourg. This was actually like a bunch of little mini parks within one big one. Each one had a different theme and design. Lots of them had water features, but no water. I guess they face the same water issues we do. If I worked in Paris, I'd definitely try to steal away here to clear my head. It was a great place to hang out and enjoy the day. We found a shady spot and had a huge picnic spread, fit for a king. It was a real nice treat, thanks to our awesome leaders!

After a baking walk in the Paris heat, we came to the Louvre. This place had more art than you could ever see in a weeks time, and we only had a couple hours. Since I'm an art ignoramus, I was mostly wandering around aimlessly, not really knowing what I was looking at. And on top of that, all the text was in French. Since I only know bonjour and merci, I was in the dark. But at least the AC worked! Tried to find Mona Lisa, but had to wade through the masses of school kids on field trips, and ran out of time to find her. I sure didn't want to get left behind from my group and be lost in Paris! I was a little paranoid about that. Merci & bonjour could only get me so far if I was on my own!

For dinner, we had a final group meal together at a nice little French restaurant. Four courses - foie gras, chicken & risotto, cheese, and an awesome chocolaty molten decadent dessert...mmmmmm...I really wanted to lick my plate! Only bad part of dinner was the heat. No AC there either! But the meal and the company and conversation more than made up for it. One of my favorite things in life - good food, good friends, good visiting. (and that dessert made it extra good...mmmmm)