Dreaming of France

While sitting at my worktable, the heater going full blast at my feet, bare trees out my window and the whole arctic vortex thing going on, I am dreaming of my trip to France.  I figure there's no better way to get back into blogging then to finish sharing my June 2011 trip.  I wrote about my first week and the wonderful workshop with Anna Corba.  To read those posts start here, then go here,  here,  here,  here,  here,  here, and finally  here, 
When we left our heroine, she was leaving Toulouse, boarding a train for Paris to meet up with her husband. 

The train trip was an adventure.  I had booked a bed on a sleeping car which left Toulouse at 10 pm and arrived in Paris at around 6 am. Four of us shared a car and slept all the way to Gare d'Austerlitz.  I then schlepped my suitcases across the Seine to Gare de Lyon, checked them into a locker, bought  metro passes and made my way to Gare du Nord where my husband had arrived from London. 

 I'm glad I have experience with subways.  

Paris is no harder than Boston or New York, except all the signs are in French!

 Considering all that, I don't look the worse for wear!

But sadly, the shoes were not as comfortable as I could have wished.

Our day continued with a stroll on the Left Bank.

We decided to spend our first day in Paris visiting just two special places:

Musee D'Orsay where we ate lunch and overdosed on the largest retrospective of Edouard Manet since 1954.
I bailed after room 9 and went in search of the pretties -- Monet, Degas, Van Gogh.
My husband loves Manet and saw the entire exhibit.

Notre Dame:  I had visited before, but my husband had not, so we walked there next.

Who doesn't love a good flying buttress?

 

And my husband's favorites -- Gargoyles!