Day 2

After a good night’s sleep and a few minor hair apparatus problems, we all had a great breakfast. Then it was off to portraits in the Tuileries Gardens. The day was brisk as the overcast didn’t let the sun in, and it was backed by a breeze out in the open.

But the girls hung tough and we spent over two hours doing portraits. I really think they enjoyed the experience. They will be able to use them for senior pictures. Who else gets senior portraits in Paris? Here is just a small sample.

We even did photos on the ‘Locks of Love” bridge (le Pont des Arts) across the Seine. They bought padlocks, locked them to the bridge’s fencing and tossed the key in the river, to seal their love for, well whomever!

Afterwards, we went for lunch. I was headed to a restaurant I had found on the internet, but there was a wine bar at that location. Next door, there was a restaurant advertising organic food. When I walked in, there was a big family style table just suited for our group of nine. The server was very kind and invited us to dine with them.

It was real country French food at reasonable (for Paris) prices. Some had café crème while others had real hot chocolate. Several had the organic vegetable soup, others a tartine (kind of an open faced sandwich) with smoked ham and real mozzarella. I had pot-au-feu, a kind of peasant stew (see photo). It was French style and took us over an hour to eat. Just perfect for a cold day.

Next, we trekked back across the Pont des Arts to visit the home of Impressionism, the Musée d’Orsay. They all enjoyed seeing the images they had only seen in books. Veronica’s AP Art History class came in quite handy, as I was not the only voice of information.

After a scant hour and a half at d’Orsay, we traversed the Seine once again to visit the Orangérie, the home of Monet’s Waterlily paintings. Seeing these massive paintings is almost like being in church. People speak in hushed voices and study the works in great detail. Our girls were suitably impressed.

We did have to stop for tacky souvenirs and some crêpes au chocolat on the Place de la Concorde.

Then, it was on to dinner in the fifth arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, in the former home of the poet Paul Verlaine. Our brave girls had salmon over pasta and were quite happy. This was the first time we were matched with the two other groups with whom we are traveling. It will take some time for the kids to adjust to one another. Our kids like one another, so they see little need to meet new people. We will see.