Paris– soaking in art with Grammie

On our last day in Paris we split up.  The boys headed off for a trip down the river Seine on this boat (that’s actually their boat, you can see them if you look close, we happened to see them pass by as we walked over the bridge!)We headed off to see some art.  I can’t every pass up an opportunity to go to an art museum with my mom, especially when a child is in tow.  I want my kids to have every chance in the world to be around Grammie as she digests art.  Her love for great art is contagious.  She dragged all nine of us to any art museum within 50 miles of where we were.  I’m not sure all of us appreciated it at the time, but now we all love art.  It feels like it’s a part of us, and I want it to be a part of my kids and I want them to get it from their Grammie.  We first went to the Louvre.  We just admired the grounds and the pyramid from inside before we decided that it was way too overwhelming of a museum for the hour and a half that we had before we had to head off to catch our Ferry.  So, after taking in the vastness of that place we walked across the river to the Musee d’ Orsay to soak in as much French impressionism as we could before heading off.   Hazel had to try her hand at the “pick up the pyramid” pose. I didn’t get quite the right angle, but you get the idea, right?The Musee d’ Orsay was a perfect choice for the time we had (though we could have spent hours there).  It is an old train station converted into a Museum that houses some of the most amazing pieces of impressionistic art ever created.  You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but my mom snuck this one from her hip. It was so fun to see it all and drink it all in with my mom and Hazel chatting about what their favorite works were and why.  Hazel has quite the artistic sense.  Her favorite app on my phone is one where she has to look at famous art and guess who created it.  She has quite an opinion when it comes to what she likes and what she doesn’t.  She was mesmerized by Toulouse-Lautrec.  She told my mom that Matisse is her favorite, but when she saw a whole room full of paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec, her comment was, “When I see paintings by Matisse I feel that I’m looking into the painting. When I see paintings by Toulouse-Lautrec, I feel that I’m in the painting! On the top floor of the Museum you can look out at the view through the old train station clock.  I think this was my favorite thing in the whole place.  Can you see the Sacre-Coeur Basilica way out in the distance? 

Behind these two is the Musee d’ Orsay from the outside.  Isn't’ it beautiful?

And see all those locks they are standing in front of on the bridge?  This is the bridge where you lock your heart with someone else.  You put your initials on the lock and lock it to the bridge and then throw the key into the river.  My mom and dad locked their hearts here after we left.  cute, huh?

And that’s it.  We rushed back to our hotel to meet the boys and say a sad farewell to Grammie and Grandfather.  We packed up in our car and left the city with plenty of buffer, determined not to miss the Ferry again.  And all was smooth sailing on the way home.  Thank heavens!

We left Paris happy and feeling full of beautiful things but also longing to come back one day to experience more of what it has to offer (and to eat more crepes and croissants).