honeymoon in france (4th full day)

We haven't rhythmically acclimated ourselves to the Parisian day as of yet, and I'm beginning to think we won't through the duration of our trip. Beside the jet lag, the amount of daylight France receives at this time of year has confused our unsuspecting bodies. Darkness doesn't descend until 10pm or so, and while we've enjoyed it immensely, we physically haven't been able to handle so much daytime. I'm curious to see if this light pattern changes even in the slightest when we trek five hours towards the equator to Nice.

0. We started our day at the Musee d'Orsay to immerse ourselves in the state's modern art collection. The collection is impressive. And not to be outdone, the actual building (a converted train station) is beautiful as well. You would think that the combination of the two would have made for some terrific photo opportunities. But no, nobody informed us that photos are not allowed to be taken inside the Museum. Where were you on that one, Rick Steves (I'm sure his book actually says something about this; who has time to read)?

I was highly disappointed throughout our visit, even while going through some memorable paintings by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Monet, et al. I've never really paid attention to Monet's work (which has always saddened him), but his paintings this time around really caught my attention. I am a fan. I would show you specifically which paintings struck me the deepest, but again, I took no pictures, and you can't find any images of the paintings online - after all, no pictures are allowed to be taken at the Musee d'Orsay. I would be shocked to find anything on the internets, as this would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the rules.

1. We waited until the fourth day to visit the Eiffel Tower. As suggested by many friends, we stocked our backpack with some goodies to picnic at the park across the Seine River from the tower. We enjoyed the scenic view with a couple of tasty cheeses, salami, smoked salmon, warm baguette and a not-so-great rose wine. It made me think why we don't picnic like this at home. It's so easily replicated and perhaps more enjoyable without sad-looking Senegalese vendors hocking their Eiffel Tower trinkets nearby. Besides the baguette, similar and comparable product can be easily procured at our local grocer. I love San Francisco, and really, I need to appreciate it a bit more.



2. After our picnic, we stormed the famed Champ de Elysees for one specific purpose: Laduree Macarons. After exhaustive research, Emmelle concluded that this would be the spot for us to experience a Parisian Macaron. While my macaron consumption has been limited only to Paulette's and Miette's in San Francisco, I didn't think the French-made confectionery would be so much better than its San Francisco counterpart. We quickly made our way through a box of 16 or 17 of the sweet sandwiches, and I've now concluded I need to conduct a side-by-side taste comparison to Paulette's.

Actually, I don't. Laduree is superior, and that is no knock on the delicious Paulette sandwich. Laduree excels in offering a multitude of textures and fillings. You can't really predict what a new piece will taste like based on the one you just finished off. I was particularly pleased the orange macaron which reminded me of an orange creme soda. The interplay between the chewy coated shell and the velvety filling are executed masterfully in each of their offerings.



3. For the fourth day in a row, we took a 3 - 4 hour nap. As a result, we barely made our 10:30pm dinner reservation at La Fontaine de Mars near the Eiffel Tower. The location of the restaurant was ideal as it afforded us an opportunity to check out the Eiffel Tower in the dark, it's iron-clad magnificence illuminated by seemingly a thousand lights. It's quite a different crowd at nighttime (at least on this night). Tourists were still definitely identifiable by their cameras, but the lawn area was overtaken for the most part by young Parisians drinking and passing the time, barely aware of the dominant edifice that stood right above them. While the city barricades the lawn (not sure if this is temporary) by way of some low-level fencing, the obstacle is easily overcome, and young people dominated the grounds until police officers arrived to ruin the night time frivolity. I can't tell if this is a recurring interaction between civilian and state, but it didn't seem like a foreign concept to anyone involved.

Oh by the way, I probably ate the best cooked fish dish of my life at the restaurant - a sea bass on the daily special menu (Emmelle's keen order). I keep watching TV shows describe the importance of a crispy fish skin, and we finally had it. I've thrown around a lot of hyperbole with the food we've had here thus far, but really, I mean it.



Last full day in Paris tomorrow before we train down to Nice early Monday morning. We'll have to make it a memorable one.

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