Our last day in Paris

It's been a few days since I posted anything on the blog.  Plenty of excuses:  long and busy days, lack of time, other priorities  –  and yes, if I'm totally honest, a case of "can't be bothered."  The time-consuming task is uploading the photos one at a time.  (If I upload them all at the same time, they appear all out of order and then it takes longer to drag and sort them.)

It's now Saturday 25 June, but it's already after 11 pm, so this post will include just a small sampling of our holiday experiences over the last 3 days.


Wed 22 June  –  Our last day in Paris
We then walked down to the River Seine and along the river to Jardin des Tuileries (Tuileries Gardens).  The traffic was dreadful and I'll try not to complain about Melbourne's traffic any more, but it didn't worry us because we were walking everywhere.




Jardin des Tuileries



View of Pont Alexandre III  (Alexander III Bridge) over the River Seine.


We planned to have a quiet day, but how do you achieve that in a city like Paris?  First, we walked the Opéra area and along one of the major boulevards that give Paris a sense of grandeur.  The walk included morning tea of course.


We went to the Musée de l'Orangerie  and saw works by Picasso, Cezanne, Monet, Matisse, etc.  The museum was air-conditioned, which was a welcome relief from the heat outside.  





We continued walking through the gardens and found a great spot for lunch under the shade of the trees.




We walked further along the River Seine and crossed over to visit the Conciergerie.  It was the residence of the French Kings before they built and Louvre and moved there.  Sainte-Chappelle, or the Holy Chapel with the fantastic stained-glass is part of the complex.  We had been there a couple of times before, but we had never been through other parts of the old royal palace.  We saw the cell where Marie-Antoinette was imprisoned during her trial  --  then she was off to the guillotine and lost her head!  We saw the dungeons where other prisoners were kept, the Hall of the Men-at-Arms, the Guardroom, etc.


Conciergerie




  


A rather spectacular staircase