Paris Day 2 - Musee D'Orsay, Eiffel Tower and more

After a good night of sleep we woke up refreshed on Saturday morning. We went downstairs to a pretty lackluster breakfast and then had a brief scare when Ginger couldn't find her credit cards. Once that was taken care of we walked up the street to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery. It is the biggest cemetery in Paris and has a lot of people buried there - some that you'll recognize. It was a beautiful morning.

We did seek out Chopin's tomb and it was pretty. That is Erato - the muse of lyric poetry - sitting atop the memorial.
We couldn't find Jim Morrison and we didn't set out across the cemetery to see Oscar Wilde - but you can see pictures of their grave/tomb on wiki.

After about 45 minutes or so we left the cemetery and got on the metro. We got of at Tuileries and walked across the garden and then the river to get to the Musee D'Orsay. It is a foot bridge and is really beautiful - as is the museum seen here from across the Seine. You can see was a gorgeous day it was going to be. I love the Musee D'Orsay - as much for the venue as the art inside. Here is one of my favorites (you'll recognize it from a picture that sits on the blog sidebar from 2 years ago). It is Degas' Blue Dancers.
There is also a lot of Money (pre and post waterlilies). Laurie and I posed in front in front of this Money (which I really like - but also seemed appropriate). I can't remember what the common English title for the painting is, but the French one directly translates to London, Parliament, Sun through a gap in the fog. We are oh so familiar with that site and weather. :)
Here is Laurie and Ginger looking happy on the 3rd floor catwalk - it transverses the cavern of the train station.
Having spend the morning enjoying art - we were feeling peckish. I though back and remembers a crepe restaurant in the St Germain de Pres quarter - which I didn't think would be too far a walk. It really wasn't - and I appreciated Laurie and Ginger going with my memory. We did find a creperie (not the one I meant). The ambiance was great. We were seated in the empty upstairs. We were happy to be away from the smoke an amongst the purple velvet booths and Americana on the walls. Some of the great pictures on the wall behind my head were Flipper & Magnum P.I. Also notable were Charlie's Angels, Mr T and many tributes to JFK. It was fun and the food was gorgeous.
We continued our walk in SGdP and saw the St Sulpice Cathedral (of DaVinci Code fame - where the Rose Line is) and then continued (with a brief diversion the wrong way) to the Luxumbourg Garden. The gardens were full of people - but also benches. Ginger marveled all over Paris at the plethora of public seating - this is something that there is a real shortage of in London. We claimed a bench and just chatted, soaking in the atmosphere, for like an hour. Here is a picture of some children playing with a rented sail boat in the central fountain.
At this point we had ticked off everything on our list (and then some) that was planned for the day. We just had the Louvre planned for Sunday before the train. So we decided to brave the queues at the Eiffel Tower. We were in the sun in line for about 1 hour to get tickets - this mister was a nice gesture - but the mist really evaporated before helping much.
After getting tickets, it was another 45 minutes (not in a line, but a squished mob) to get on the elevator to the 2nd floor. Then happily the elevator to the 3rd (top) floor was available straight away.
I think that we all enjoyed being on the tower. The top floor was super crowded, but the weather was nice so we could see a lot. I think that the pictures generally turn out better from the 2nd floor - or at least you can identify more from that level. The shot above is from the 2nd floor pointing basically straight up. This was the 17th attempt and the best shot of the 3 of us.

Laurie and I got a little goofy - but in the shot below I am presenting the Sacre Couer sitting atop Monmartre. It is amazing - on the second floor you can still make out the hill, and the Sacre Coeur pokes out...on the 3rd floor the city looks absolutely flat.
We got off the final elevator about 3 hours after we got in line at the Eiffel Tower - it was nearly 8pm. We walked across the river (Laurie and I shared a nice crepe with chocolate and coconut on the way). We took some pictures from the famous viewpoint of the Trocadero.

After that we headed to the Rue Rivoli (back by the Louvre) to try to find more art for Ginger - but everything was closed up. We did buy blister plasters in a pharmacy - that heaven. Gin and Laurie had kebabs and I ate their french fries and we made it home by 11. Ready for bed and then our last day in Paris.