One Day in Paris

The Hotel Relais Bosquet was wonderful, as was our whole trip in Paris, France. I think that because Rick Steves and Trip Advisor recommend highly our hotel that they are used to working with Americans. We found them very kind, helpful and bilingual. Our hotel was like botique hotels in the US. Very comfortable, well appointed rooms. The one thing though is the breakfast was not free, rather cost 16 Euros a day. That said, we wouldn't have done anything differently because it was easier to just eat their excellent breakfast and then get on with our day. We were able to walk to the Eiffel Tower, where we caught the "Batobus" which is a water taxi that stopped at many of the popular attractions. We decided that we were going to go to the Musee de Orsay, an absolutely wonderful experience. I focused on Rodin, Van Gough, Monet, Renoir, because they were the artists with whom I was most familiar. We were lucky in that the impressionist art had a special temporary exhibit as well as the regular Impressionist Exhibit. We ended up spending the majority of the day at the Orsay and were happy to do so. 

We ate lunch in the Restaurant there which was also a wonderful experience. Just like in Montreal, I found that I could understand almost everything because of my Spanish language proficiency. I could use cognates, similar structures and context clues. As long as I could read it. I couldn't really understand much but both Rebecca and I tried to use French, which was very much appreciated and I think was a strong contributing reason we were treated so nicely. After our initial attempt, almost everyone did speak English but they were much more disposed to help us given that we were respectful of their language and customs. Lunch was a relaxed pace. I had fish and vegetables that were beautifully prepared; fresh bread and a glass of champagne! Rebecca had chicken and also a glass of champagne. The room itself was also beautiful but I didn't feel right taking a picture. 

Rodin

Monet

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

Renoir

Other Paintings/Sculptures that I liked: 

Photos of the Orsay: 

 After our wonderful visit, we were ready to get back on the "Batobus". Given that we only had the one day, this was a wonderful way to see the city from the Seine River. We enjoyed standing on the back of the boat and taking in the sights: The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, and finally the Eiffel Tower with France's Statue of Liberty. 

We walked both to and from the Eiffel tower, where we caught Batobus. Getting to the Batobus in the morning was easy with no mishaps. Getting back to our hotel at end of the day; google navigator did all kinds of weird circular trips; we had to ask for help and it took a good extra hour and a half to get to our hotel. It was ok though. 

On the "Batobus" on the Seine River

Notre Dame

People enjoying the beautiful day in springtime Paris along the Seine

Beautiful bridges all along the Seine. 

This was amazing! The Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower!. 

We changed at our hotel and caught a taxi for the 9:00 showing of Moulin Rouge. What a wonderful experience that was!!! A true Cabaret! Some nudity(topless women) involved but done so tastefully that it was actually just amazing (think draping jewelry, elaborate costumes, etc) There were several song and dancing routines, some of which were honoring our American/France Connections - some popular songs from WWII for example and also "Singing in the Rain" and more current songs "Roxanne" by Sting. AND there were some amazing athletic acrobatic numbers involved as well! They had a couple on skates, that were on a small circular platform. They did all of these amazing things where they were going so fast, I just don't see how they kept from getting dizzy or hurting themselves. He would pick her up, extend her, and just fly in circles. They at one point connected with a leather like rope around his neck and her head, spinning her like a top extended horizontally from his body! I have never seen anything like that, ever!!! The audience literally gasped! Another scene was a swimming pool platform rising up from the stage full of snakes that looked like boa constrictors but couldn't have been. There were several of them in the pool. A girl dove into the pool and swam with them, dancing with them. THAT freaked me out! We had a raised, tiered, table that came with a bottle of champagne (when in France...) This champagne not your American garden variety; I've never tasted anything like this either!