One thing I'd love to import from Paris is that most museums are free on the first Sunday of the month. For the first time, after three days of rain, we had clear, blue skies. It wasn't terribly warm, but we were happy that the sun was out so that we wouldn't have to drag our umbrellas around with us.
We got out of the apartment, which is near the Banque de France, and walked through the Louvre to see the Pyramids. The line to get into the Louvre was long as it was free today. We could see down into one of the smaller pyramids, and could see hoardes of people milling around. The Louvre is so impressive even on the outside. It makes the Uffizi look like a small museum.
We walked over a bridge to get to the Rive Gauche, and walked down a few streets to my favorite museum, the Musée Rodin. I especially love the garden in the back of the museum where even more sculptures are on display. It's pleasant to sit in the well-manicured garden with the pond and sit on one of the benches in the sun to just soak in the beauty of the place.
We didn't find any restaurants or brasseries on the way that looked appetizing, so we decided to eat at the snack bar at the Musée Rodin. We walked around the museum to see Rodin's works as well as Camille Claudel's amazing pieces. The museum was, of course, crowded but I enjoyed visiting it; I hadn't been to this museum in at least 10 years, and it never ceases to satisfy me.
After our visit, we walked around the gardens and sat in the sun. It was such a nice day that it was hard to leave. We then walked past the Invalides (where Napoleon's tomb is), but decided not to visit it because there were large crowds of people, and we had to purchase tickets.
We walked to the Pont de l'Alma to catch a boat ride up and down the Seine. We arrived a few minutes before departure and were able to sit in the front of the bateau mouche. Paris is amazingly beautiful to look at from the boat. The uniquely distinct bridges that connect the two rives (banks of the river).
The architecture is also quite amazing too. As I sat in the boat, I couldn't believe that I used to live in this enchanting city. It just seemed almost surreal even to me. When I used to live here, I felt as if Paris was my city. And now, many years later, it feels like a different place.
We took the métro back to Châtelet-Les Halles for dinner. Everything was open in this area. All the cafés had people sitting on the terraces drinking and people-watching. There were artists selling their work and street performers attracting crowds to watch their shows.
We've got much more to visit here in Paris, and we hope we'll be fortunate to continue to have good weather.
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