Thoughts on Paris

I left for Paris on the 4:30 train on Friday afternoon. The train was of course packed and when we got into Gare de Lyon there was mayhem. Easter weekend in Paris. Here are some thoughts:

- It rained the whole time. Except for a 2 hour window on Saturday when we went to the Eiffel Tower.

- The city is not quite in Spring mode. It was a little too early to visit as the gardens are not in bloom yet, but when I go back at the end of the month they are going to be spectacular.

- I liked the Rodin museum the most. Probably because the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre were absolutely packed. Annoyingly packed. With hugely enormous lines that were not adding to my experience in the least. I actually really detested the lines and it majorly hindered my enjoyment of the places. Here's an example of a line at the Louvre. It was free on the first Sunday of the month. So that contributed I'm sure. The Rodin though was much smaller and part of it was outside. I thought it was the perfect size for a small museum trip and had some really really cool works.

- The whole city was packed and it really made me not enjoy the trip as much. I need a better mindset next time, so I am going to prepare myself.

- The food was truly amazing. Sadly the people I was traveling with had a bad main course on Saturday, but mine was spectacular. I first had Ratatouille in honor of my brother Then I had sea scallops which is one of my favorite meals that I haven't had since I came to France. Then I had this for dessert.

Look at that strawberry goodness. The thing on the left was lemon and strawberry sorbet in a lemon. The thing on the right is a little tart type thing with graham cracker crust on the bottom and creme on the top. The little cookies on the top were soooo yummy as well.

- Of course I spent way too much money on one weekend, but it is Paris, and I figured, why not?

- The Eiffel Tower was really neat, we tried to stay until the lights came on at night, but there was more rain coming in so we didn't.

- There are tons of Americans in Paris. I heard more American English than I have heard in a long time. Strange because I heard way less French.

- There are tons of museums in Paris. When we looked at the guide book it was the major sites and then museums. At some point museums become very similar and having seen the same type of art for more than 3 hours is not condusive to keeping me involved and energized.

All in all a good short weekend in Paris. I came back on a 2pm train on Sunday, and made it to Easter Sunday mass. Then made myself a little dinner and the Easter Bunny brought me a gift (as in brought, I mean, I bought it at the patisserie and brought it home). Looks yummy huh? It was.