Scenes From an Italian Restaurant in Paris

Until only a few months ago, I had never owned an umbrella. There was a 2-pack on sale at Costco back in May, so we threw them in the cart. We even used them a few times. I thought about bringing one for our trip, but being a last minute packer, I forgot. When we were getting ready to leave Hotel Royal Bastille for some breaky it had just started raining.


By the time we made it to La Rampart on Rue Saint Antoine, we were soaked. Head to toe.


I was feeling hungry this morning, so I thought I would try an omlette. Apparently an omlette also includes tartine, baguette and crepe. Woah.


There's a funny thing about service here in Paris. It could just be the places we go, but it seems the service at breakfast is usually excellent, but deteriorates throughout the day. I've learned to take the long waits between sitting, ordering anything and getting our bill as time to talk. If we had nothing to talk about, boy would it be painful.

The rain didn't look like it was going to let up, so we decided to get an umbrella. Pronto. Luckily, there was a little shop just down the street that had some for sale, €5. Awesome.


We had originally planned to walk the streets of Montmartre today, but thought visiting the Musée d'Orsay would make more sense with the down pour. We showed up at Musée d'Orsay and saw that a thousand other people had the same idea.


It was lined up down the block and around another block and around another block. I thought it was deceivingly long because everyone was toting an umbrella and if you count the extra space placed in between people holding umbrella, it's more like half as long. And I was right. It didn't take long to shuffle towards the Orsay.


It turned out that we were in the line for ticket holders, but we did'nt have any tickets. Luckily, there was a consession cart parked along the line and they sold tickets! Score.


One thing that seems out of place here is the military presence. Standing in line, 3 soldiers walk by with AK-47s or something. There's something about that that freaks me out, but also makes me feel a little safe I guess (or I'm just telling myself that). By the time we got close to the building, the rain subsided.


We entered the Orsay and the first thing I noticed was the no camera signs everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I don't handle single tasks very well. I have to listen to music when I write. I have to tap my feet and hands when I'm sitting on the Metro. I have to take pictures of the museum stuff at the museum. Absolutely no photos at the Orsay. It was strictly enforced as well. I saw an Orsay staff member cross 2 rooms to get to a culprit. So, was the Orsay good otherwise? Yeah. There's Van Gogh's, Monet's and Manet's. There was a Manet exhibit that was really good. The title of the Manet exhibit was 'Manet, the Man Who Invented Modernity'. A rebel artist in the 1800's.

When we left the Orsay, it was around 3:00. Time for lunch. Everything around the Orsay was expensive, so we headed for the Metro. We thought hey, why not go to Montmartre anyway? It was a surprisingly quick trip with only 1 transfer. Getting off the Metro and making our way to the street (it was really far underground, at least 5 flights of stairs), I was expecting to walk into a scene from the movie Moulin Rouge. That, it was not.


It looked like a normal Paris neighborhood. We followed the map and zigzagged some streets to look for a good lunch spot. We found one.


Pizza, wine and bread with oil. Not baguette, but little individual bread bites. Amazing! And really Italian too. The guys inside running the joint put on quite a show as they exchanged words and gestures that made me laugh. If you come to Paris, get some pizza.


The view out the front window was also interesting as people were traveling up and down the street and up and down the distant stairs.


Was saw where Pablo Picasso lived.


And Vincent van Gogh.


Realizing there is much to explore in this neighborhood and we were getting a little tired of walking, we decided to get going back to Hotel Royal Bastille and visit Montmartre another day. It just so happened that the Moulin Rouge was on the way.


In the last week, I have walked the same streets as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Victor Hugo and Louis XIV. I feel like I should start painting, writing and building something grand.

I've just been told that tomorrow will be full of shopping and finishing with a nice dinner out. I better get a nice outfit for that.