What a beautiful morning to visit a museum. The sun was shining and the gray clouds gone away. As we strolled to the Metro, we took the scenic route through the Jardin des Tuileries Garden, under and over the Passerelle Léopold Sédard Senghor bridge to d'Orsay Museum. It fascinating to see how President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing commissioned the change Gare d'Orsay train station into the Musée d'Orsay museum in 1977. Opening it doors in 1986 under President President François Mitterrand to house a large collection of 19th century French art, including many Impressionist masterpieces. The Musée has over 2000 painting and 600 sculptures. Our guide for the morning, Joelle, was quite versed in the art and artist. She held a wealth of knowledge of the paints inside the museum. I was truly fascinating to take time to peruse the painting and sculptures. Below is only a fraction of the painting and sculpture I photographed, and wished I had all day to browse.
Mini Excursion through the
Tuileries Garden Christmas Market 2024 and Angelina' s
After traveling through Paris over the past five days, spending some free time in this areas, I gained some confidence in where I was going. Although you can loose your way, I found that I had a great time, nonetheless. I was filled with joy from the season, and I had visited a place I had always wanted and had such an memorable and enjoyable time. I felt December was a great time to see Christmas in Paris and I was not disappointed. From the perfect Hot Chocolate to the delectable desserts, how could you not be delighted.
Farewell Dinner and Seine River Cruise
As the tour comes to a close, we have one more gathering to reminisce about all when had seen in Paris. By now, we've learned to look the person in the eye and say Santé - to your health in French. We had a champagne toast at the hotel before walking to our "Farewell Dinner. As we walked to our 2024 Michelin Star restaurant Le Florinmond. What and exquisite cuisine. We are all gathered to thank Virginie for all she had done to educate us on all things Paris. It was truly and adventure of a lifetime and I enjoyed every bit of the experience. We had grown close to some and cheered each other on with our excursions and even tasting some Escargot. I declined the offer, but they smelled great. We even talked about the different areas of Paris we all travel to on our excursions. I had the chance to walk the sidewalks of Champ Elyes, seen the Arc de Arc de Triomphe, tasted REAL Hot Chocolate, tasted so many pastries and macrons and eaten my first by not last Parian croissant.
Virginie More' asked at the "Welcome Dinner", why we had chosen Paris as part of the Rick Steves tours. I had spoken about my twins twins middle names one is London and the other is Paris, two of the placed I wanted to visit. I told her how I've always wanted to visit and how this was a dream come true for me. She in turn gave us a souvenirs I will always treasure and cherish.
~ Merci ~
Michelle A.