A little bit of history...

Moulin de la Galette - Renoir - Musée d'Orsay

Day 3 in Paris began with a trip to the Musée d'Orsay, one of my favorite museums in Paris, which houses works of art from many of the worlds most famous painters.  Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Seurat; they are all there.  The Musée d'Orsay is unique in that it was not always a museum but served the city of Paris first as a train station.  As newer, more modern train stations were built, the building was transformed into a museum for works of art from the 19th to early 20th century.  Students seemed to enjoy the Musée d'Orsay more than the Louvre.  The Louvre is full of beautiful, religious and historic works but in the 19th century paintings and sculpture began to depict everyday life and become more accessible to the general public rather than just the aristocracy and and the church.  These popular works continue to attract crowds by the thousands.

 Marc Chagall ceiling- Opera Garnier

Our little group - Opera Garnier

After a quick lunch at a sandwich shop we headed to the Opera Garnier, the famed opera house that inspired Phantom of the Opera.  It is an exquisite building, both inside and out.  We were able to climb the grand staircase, view the gallery of costumes, visit the library where they keep a copy of all the scripts from all their different performances and of course, visit the Salle de Spectacles with it's red velvet covered seats and beautiful ceiling created by the famous painter, Marc Chagall.  It was impressive.

Arc de Triomphe

Finally, we headed to the Champs Elysees to do a little shopping and see the Arc de Triomphe.  As soon as arrived we opted it began to rain like cats and dogs so we decided to do a little shopping first just to keep dry!  Not long afterwards, when the rain had stopped and we ventured out again onto the Champs Elysées we noticed that crowds had gathered along the sidewalk all along this magnificent boulevard.  Upon closer inspection, we saw a military band and rows and rows of elderly men lined up, each proudly carrying the 'tricolore"or the French flag.  I approached a gendarme and asked him what was going on and he explained to me that the parade that was about to take place was in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the French war with Algeria and that this was the first time these men were being officially recognized for their service. Wow!  It was incredible to see these now elderly men marching up the Champs Elysées, undoubtably the most famous street in France, to the Arc de Triomphe where the French tomb of the unknown soldier lies and finally received the honor they deserved.  Many of them were brought to tears and I am so glad I was there to witness it.

Dessert Crêpes

As usual, our day ended with a wonderful meal. This time, we ate at a crêperie.  Each student picked both a dinner and a dessert crepe of their choice.  Fillings included things like, ham, cheese, sausage, onions, potatoes and mushrooms.  Our dessert crepes were no less impressive and were filled with chocolate, Chantilly cream, ice cream and caramel.  When our last crepes came out, we noticed a special message that had been written in chocolate on top of the crêpes which read, " I love Colorado".