Moving to the 7th Arrondissement

We moved out of our apartment yesterday.  Looking back, it was so unnerving to rent an apartment in Paris & a house in Normandy online & have no clue what you are stepping into. We are so thankful for the wonderful hosts we have had while we are here.  Our gite owners were wonderful and Tycen was as well.  We greeted him and his dog Lukey yesterday morning alongside a family of 6 from Australia who were moving into our apartment.  We made our way down the elevator with all of our luggage - thankfully a bit less dramatic than our entrance into the apartment & a bit more organized.  Chris had reserved a taxi to take us to the hotel so we would have to take our entourage through the metro.  We drove through St. Germain and made our way to the 7th Arrondissement to the Hotel La Bourdonnais. 

We had yet to go to the Musee d' Orsay - so we decided to try it out yesterday.  Here is a photo of the kids w/ a replica of Pablo Picasso as we exited the metro stop.  Museums.  I love to visit them and really could do a few hours there myself looking at the art.  Chris, could spend the entire day - he loves every detail of the museums.  The kids.....not so much.  The Louvre was great to see Mona & the Feast of Cana, as well as some of the pieces the kids had studied at school.  But truly - it is so massive & their little legs can only go so far with a sea of people during peak season.  Same goes yesterday at the Orsay.  The Impressionists are some of our favorite pieces of art & we couldn't wait to see the list of art on the kids list from their art teacher.  It helped to have smaller rooms to see the art & the kids were excited to recognize things they had studied..  But again, a large mass of people + smaller rooms (Orsay) = a very short attention span for our aged children....pretty difficult to maneuver.   What we all enjoyed despite a busy day there - seeing works by Renoir, Degas, Monet & Picasso.  We were all so fascinated with the details on the paintings.  You see the swirls on the painting below of Picasso & you see it in person & the details of the swirls are amazing.  All the paintings were this way.  Would we go again - absolutely!  With children?  Yes, but probably with a kid oriented tour.  We find museums with tours dedicated to small children help them direct their attention to what is on display.  Also - if you go - buy your tickets online & bypass the giant size lines.  It is amazing how many people you pass by doing this.  See below for some of our favorite paintings of the day. 

 

One fun quote was from Jacob who was commenting on the paintings he was looking at for his class.  He said - these look the same as Ms. Dougherty shows us but they are brighter...why is that?  We said she had shown him a replica & he is looking at the actual paintings by the artists.  It was fun to see the light bulb come on in his little head of what he was looking at & discuss what a replica of a piece of art is. 

Here we are back at the Metro station & Rebekah saw an advertisement for the ballet she had gone to with Chris. 

Last night we went to the street Rue Cler & had dinner.  We all had plats du jour (plate of the day) at La Petit Cler Cafe for dinner.   Roasted Chicken w/ Mashed Potatoes & a scoop of ice cream from Berthillion.