On to the Louvre

I don't know why these photos posted out of order........oh, well,  this is the Gate of the Lions entrance into the Louvre Museum.  The Lion are quite regal.

This man was set up at the end of the bridge that crosses over just up from the Orsay Museum.  He had quite a "band" at his disposable....and he sang!  He was really good with all the instruments and had a really nice voice.  Notice the top hat sitting in front of him for tips.  ")

Here is a closer view of him as he plays the trumpet, drums and melody on the accordian.

This is the beautiful fence around the museum.  As we walked through the park toward the museum, the fence and light posts were dazzling in the sunlight.

A Grand Time at the Orsay

Catherine and Dale Moore.......what a great time we had with them as we dined in the restaurant in the Orsay Museum.  Catherine was so encouraging to me as our group made plans to make the trip to Paris.  She gave me many tips and links to help with our planning.  How wonderful to meet her in person!  (and a million thanks to Dale for our little transaction!)

A very cherished photo for me.  ")

This is our art group....missing only Miss Minori who was not able to join us from Japan.  (It was an emotional time for me when it was time to part from Sara and Kimberly.)

Miss Z.............I see such creativity here.  I have been able to chat with her online and would like to get to know her better and see some more of her art.  Great to meet you, Z!

Luscious food in the Orsay Restaurant....

Cheesecake with strawberry sauce.

This was wonderful!  The pasta salad with fried salami, cheese slices and basil topped off with a little pesto.  ummmmm!

Scrumcious chocolate cake and sweet cream sauce.

Reunited with Friends at the Orsay...

Here are Judi and Pat talking to Catherine.  I wish I could remember the names of the other ladies in her group.  (so sorry!)  Kimberly Hanlon is at the far right across from Catherine and Jan.

Here I am with Susan and Sara.  Sara and I had actually met in an art group that Susan and Judi were also in at Tejas Stamps in Collinsville in 1999.

Here is dear Kimberly.  She and Sara feel like family to Sharla and I.  Sharla and Kimberly had barely met when the Hanlons had to move to Minneapolis.  Kimberly is a very creative young lady.  She has a degree in fashion design and later went back to get her law degree.  Her law firm is now in Minneapolis.  I have a bear that Kimberly made while living here in Tulsa.  ")  (Mr. Sammy Bear)

Orsay Museum

Our day at the Orsay Museum was to meet Catherine Moore and her group that were in Paris the same week as we were.  In fact, Catherine is the reason for our smaller group to be there.  I had seen her advertisement for her 2011 Artists' Workshop in Paris..........I had purchased the magazine in March of  2010.  I immediately called my friend Sara and suggested that some of us sign up for it.  She told me that she and her daughter Kimberly had already signed up and that I should call Catherine immediately.  Sorry to say, her roster was already full.  She had started a cancellation stand-by list and put me on it.  In the meantime, I talked to Pat Rogerson in England and Susan Wilkin here in Oklahoma.  Soon we were saying, "Why not form our own  group to go?" and we ended up with our group of six.  Here is Jan in the dining room of the Orsay.  We had lunch with Catherine's group and were able to meet the women in her group......well, and two men.....two of the husbands came, one being Dale Moore....Catherine's husband. 

Here is Susan sitting by Sara Hanlon at the other table.  Sara and Kimberly had recently moved to Minneapolis due to Kimberly's acute broncchial asthma.

Susan, Jan and Barb waiting on the rest of us to leave for the Orsay Museum.

Sorry this is taking so long................

I am having difficulty working with my hands.......I am afraid I have arthritis settling into them.  I
can't seem to work very long without them hurting dreadfully.   Some days I just can't type at all and
cutting and painting are becoming difficult.  I take a daily glucosamine with chondroitin and it is helping.  Lord willing, I will be able to work more the longer I am on this.  Thanks for your patience and your comments to me about this adventure I was able to take.  ")

La Labrouette

Ahhhhhhh, creme broulee......we had it several times, but here it was the creamiest and most flavorful.

Judi really enjoyed it, too!  ")   We had also had a wonderful onion soup, which we had tried at other restaurants, but not as thick and tasty as here.  I highly recommend this little spot to anyone visiting Paris in the Latin Quarter.

A pretty smile from Pat..............what a great help she was to us constantly on this trip.  How nice to finally meet an "online" friend and find them to be exactly in person as they seem online.  A great friend, indeed!

Pat took this photo of the Labrouette Cafe in the day time.   How different it seems at night...... of course, it's very busy then.  ")

(The end of our 6th day.......how, sad.....half our trip over and so much more we wanted to do and stretch out our time with one another.)

La Droguerie

Talk about eye candy!  This little shop in Les Halles was chocked full of sweets from wall to wall and end to end.  ")  Jan, Barb, Judi and I made the trek from the Eiffel Tower to Les Halles by Metro and were not disappointed.  Pat and Susan had already been to the shop and clued us in on this little jewel.  As you can see, I brought a sampling of things home with me. 

The selection of velvet butterflies was scant.....the little bowl was nearly empty..... especially of the smaller ones.   I sent some of the red rose ribbon to our friend Minori in Japan who did not get to join us on our trip.

Also sent to Minori were some of those darling buttons.  The tiny-tucked salmon colored ribbon is one of my favorites.

The beautiful floral bias tape binding was made up in bracelets in the store.  They would measure off a piece, slide a charm or two onto the piece and sew bracelet closures onto the ends.  They were so unique.  Guess what I'm going to be doing with it???  ")  (Minori also received some of this from me.)

This photo is courtesy of Pat Rogerson who was smart enough to take a photo of the sign....... not so moi!

Coming down from the tower.............

Here you see Judi, Barb and Jan as we are waiting for the next lift to go back down the tower.

We were packed into the lift like sardines.  ")  I could barely see Judi on the other side of the car.

The bus and cars look like toys below us as they go down the street.

The top of the ever present carousel.   They really are pretty but give these historic sights such a "Disneyland look". 

From the Air................

I wish I could tell you the sections of the city that you will see in these photos, but my geographical knowledge of the city of Paris is almost nil.  You can see how hazy it was that day.  It was most likely a high ozone alert day as it got much worse as they day went on.

Above is a beautiful view of the River Seine.  I think that may be the Academy below........

These gorgeous gardens are around the Eiffel Tower. 

On the Ground at Eiffel Tower.....

These soldiers were fully armed with automatic guns as they roamed the grounds and the crowds.There were several pairs of them around the Tower.

All of just had to capture this shadow with our cameras.  It was almost noon and if we had waited about another 15 minutes, we most likely would have had a straighter shadow.

Ah, The Eiffel Tower................

Hhmmmmm,  these loaded backwards.......... I was standing directly under the tower as you can tell.  What I really wanted to do was lie down directly in the center of the four legs of the tower and take the photo looking up..................just too many people in the way!  LOL

My friends Judi, Jan and Barb. 

See, just a few people out on this sunny day to go to the top of the tower and have a look around Paris.  We were there fairly early and only had to stand in line close to an hour.........we had heard the horror stories of how people how stood in line 2-3hrs to get tickets.  We considered ourselves very fortunate indeed.  ")

This is the photo I took of the tower when we first arrived.
I uploaded it first and don't know why it loaded last.  ??

River views......

Troubled times..................

These are the towers where Marie-Antoinette was kept until she was taken to the guillotine.

The towers are covered with a "screen" now as the outside is being cleaned.

 This is now a hospital.

The tall obelisk behind the trees is a marker to show where the guillotine was placed and used during those dark days.

Here's lookin' at you, kid.................

Isn't this fantastic!  What a great advertisement.......for what?.............I don't know.....but I love it!  As the boat goes by the eyes look as though they follow you. 

See..............there she goes "lookin' at you"!  LOL

Sights along the Seine

Our closest view of the Eiffel Tower yet.  Judi, Jan, Barb and I took a trip to the tower later in the week.

Another one of the carousels........evidently an attraction close to any of the major sights.  I'm sure lots of locals go there just to give their children a day out and a ride on the double-decker amusement.

This is a broader view of the cityscape along the Seine.

Love the tops of these rotundas and those little teapot -like knobs on top.  ")