The plan today was to start with a helping of 19th century art at the Musée d'Orsay, and then stroll through Hemingway's old hood, Boulevard Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
We started our day with a coffee and croissant at Mucha Cafe near Solférino Métro station, and then made our way to the museum (pictured above). The Musée d'Orsay is an absolutely stunning facility. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, an impressive turn-of-the-century train station, with a huge ornate clock dominating one end of the beautifully illuminated space. The museum holds mostly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces in the world. Along with Monet's lilies and Van Gogh's sunflowers, here are some of the most famous works in the museum:
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir Bal du moulin de la Galette
- Édouard Manet The Luncheon on the Grass, Olympia
- James McNeill Whistler Whistler's Mother
- some iconic ballerina paintings by Edgar Degas
- and a huge collection of work by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
The museum was a little confusing to navigate from floor to floor, but very gratifying to simply get lost in the art. Like the Louvre, I felt so honoured to experience these works first-hand. Unforgettable.
After about 3 hours, we made our way to the exit and headed back to the boulevard for some lunch. We continued walking along after our meal, exploring the iconic street, Saint-Germain-des-Prés. This road and surrounded area was a hub for artists and intellectuals in the 1920s (Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir), Nazi resistance in the 1940s, and student revolution in the 1960s. The streets are now lined with lovely cafes, restaurants and boutiques.
One of the most amazing sites along the boulevard is Église Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which is the oldest church in Paris, dating back to the 6th century. Here you can find the tomb of René Descartes, the father of modern philosophy ("I think, therefore I am.").
A quick detour down Rue de Seine, and we found a gallery that was on my to-do list. It was an exhibit at Espace Callot (1 rue Jacques Callot) of experimental student typography from the School of Visual Art in NYC. Pretty interesting explorations between architecture and type.
Not far from the gallery was the Pont des Arts bridge, where thousands of people have attached their personal padlocks and thrown the key into the Seine river as a sign of their commitment. How romantic!
Then, a small poster on a bulletin board pointed us towards Abbey Bookshop, an English language bookstore opened by a Canadian (from Toronto!) back in 1989. The shop resides on Rue de la Parcheminerie, formerly Rue des Escrivains, where scribes used to copy manuscripts in the 12th century (before the advent of Gutenberg's printing press).
It was very comforting to see the Canadian flag hanging proudly outside the bookstore.
Not far from the Islands, we used our Paris Museum Pass to explore Le Palais de Justice (The Palace of Justice law courts) and Conciergerie. The palace is the centre of the French judicial system, and has been so since the Medieval period. The Conciergerie is a palace-turned-prison-turned-museum. During the Reign of Terror, hundreds of people were imprisoned here before being guillotined around Paris, including Marie Antoinette.
By far the most impressive part of the compound was Saint-Chapelle, a tiny church tucked in the centre courtyard of the Palace of Justice. Though small compared to many other churches (included Notre-Dame), this "jewel box" is considered to be one of the world's most beautiful buildings, with it's 15 stained-glass windows, one of the most extensive collections of 13th-century stained glass in existence.
The windows depict over 1,000 scenes from the Bible, from the Garden of Eden to the Apocalypse.
A little further down the Island, we passed by Notre-Dame again, who towered in size compared to Saint-Chapelle. Behind Notre-Dame, we discovered Pont de l'Archevêché, a second bridge covered in love padlocks! I guess there is just too much love in Paris...
We grabbed some more Berthillon ice cream on Île Saint-Louis, jumped on the Métro, and headed home for a rest. An evening visit to the Louvre (more here), dinner in Beaubourg / Les Halles, and a leisurely walk home through the Marais.
And that marked our lovely, love-filled ninth day in Paris.
