A Paris Sunday (Sun July 15)

In our ongoing effort to beat the crowds we visited the Orangerie Museum this morning before church. We really went to see Monet's massive Water Lilies, which we read about with the boys before the trip.  They are impressive.  The rest of the place was also nice but probably wasted on art savages like us.  Truth be told, we are also developing a bit of museum burn-out.

The Musee d'Orangerie, right off Plaza Concorde (infamous
as the site of mass guillotining).

We attend the American Church in Paris.  It was very nice, and in English!  There are an estimated 50,000 Americans living in Paris, so there is a large group of Yankees from which to draw on.  Afterwards, we headed to lunch at Rue Cler, an old-style Parisian street.  The morning street market was still in full swing when we arrived.

Outside at the street cafe.  (A fromagerie is a cheese shop.)

We stuck with crepes.  Boring but predictable.  This bunch is not up for tripe or any gourmet surprise. 

Scott with a Cafe Creme and the Boys with Hot Chocolate.
Hrrm, hrrm, hrmm.   Loook at us, veee arrre so Freeench!

We thought we had lucked out and gotten a day without rain.  Not so fast!  You will note that we have invested in some cheap umbrellas at this point.

The entourage in the rain.

We were told that the Parisians love their dogs, although we haven't seen as many this trip as we were expecting.   This lady, however, did fit the stereotype:

Yes, that is a pug with a special doggie harness/ seat belt.

There are two large parks (a la Central Park) at the West and East edge of Paris proper.  We headed east to the Bois Vincennes (Vincennes Woods), which was at the end of the metro line.  In the old days this was a royal residence and hunting ground.  The castle was completed by Charles V in 1370 A.D.  It is great because there is no crowd since it's far enough out to be inconvenient and doesn't have the overwhelming nature of Versailles.  It looks just like the typical boy play-set castle.

Stroming the castle.

Checking out the empty moat.

Shooting arrows at the Norman invaders.

They loved these spiral staircases.  Pretty stout engineering to stand
tall for nearly 700 years without sagging.

Checking out the well.

Inside the walls.

In the King's fireplace.

Davis on Charles V's private loo.

At the adjacent church.

The park itself was a bit of a bust.  There is a reason it doesn't make it into the Tourist books.  But this travel thing is a bit like a card game--some hands you win, some you lose.

Duck Pond 

Locals playing Boules.  It's a bit like horseshoes.   

Back at our place.   Home at a decent time for once.

We are packing up and headed to bed.  Tomorrow we take the TGV train (we'll see how we like this high-speed system) to Zurich where we are renting a car.  Then we are driving through the Alps to our hotel in Austria.   Our internet status at our next couple of stops is unknown, so we may drop off the radar this week.  Thanks for tagging along!