With the travel across the Atlantic Ocean, my internal clock is a mess, but I did sleep soundly on Thursday evening.
Yet, on the morning of Friday, September 4, we were again up early. We had breakfast at the hotel, regrouped, and headed for the Metro station.
We had tickets for entering the Louvre at 9 a.m. From there, Jardine des Tuileries, followed by Musee de I’Orangeria.
Our arrival at the Louvre had no hiccups.
The museum is massive. The tourist count for entering the building is massive. The art work is as advertised.
Yes, I saw all the famous stuff—Mona Lisa, the arm less statue of Venus de Milo, and on and on and on.
Idiot that I am, at 9:34 a.m. I was captured by some magnificent ceiling art. I can only begin to imagine what it must have been like for those artists and craftsmen who created this wonder.
A few minutes later, I was drawn to The Entombment of Christ by Titian. This is an emotional painting. The faces and eyes of those in the presence of the fallen Christ show their anguish.
Yes, I admired the artwork throughout the museum. Yet for some reason, I continued to be drawn and impressed by the building itself. I would not want to be responsible for its upkeep. No matter where my eyes and feet take me, I continue to find architectural fetes.
The Jardine des Tuileries was a nice contrast to The Louvre. These gardens date back to 1564 and the Tuileries Palace. Their creation is linked to Catherine de Medici.
Clearly, this space is embraced by Parisians and tourist for its beauty and openness.
Additionally, your eyes can’t miss the La Vasque, the Cauldron, from the 2024 Olympic Games held in Paris.
At the Musee de I’Orangeria, there are multiple painting by a diverse group of French artists. However, there is no doubt that the most stunning work in the museum comes from murals by Claude Monet.
Clearly, I was drawn to the size of these wall covering murals. The murals are appropriately named Water Lillies. As you might expect from Monet, the work is stunning. Tourists spend lots of time dreaming and staring into the beauty captured in the eight pieces.
Working through the museum, I came across the quote from Apollinaire in 1913: “Painting…… a remarkable art whose light is boundless.”
Just in our brief two-day blitz through some of the most famous museums in the world, Apollinaire’s quote rings true. How the artist treat the impact of light is the heart and soul of their work. Their real time capturing of light in the paintings is remarkable.
With time moving quickly, we need to depart Musee de I’Orangeria, and work our way to the closest Metro station.
Once again, our fearless brain trust led us to the Metro. We entered without hassle, patiently waited for our train, boarded when it arrived, and rapidly departed.
Tourists that we were, Butch, Dan, and I at different times had physical encounters with the quick closing Metro doors. We weren’t left hanging by our pinkies outside the train as it sped off, but we each felt the abrupt jolt of being pummeled by those doors—so much for being gentlemen.
But this afternoon, we were not jolted by fast closing doors. No the jolt was to be different.
Several stops into the route, the Metro train came to a startling stop. The interior of the car where we were seated went quiet. The lights inside the train went out for a few seconds.
We were bewildered.
In less than a minute, we learned that an un-attended package had been spotted. Not sure if that was on our train or a platform nearby, but this train wasn’t going any further until that un-attended package was solved.
We were directed to exit the train. Our brain trust did its best to head us in the right direction to catch a different train that would drop us near our hotel.
Fortunately for us, a very observant Parisian, who spoke English, stopped to help us. Dan explained our challenge, stated our destination, and in under three minutes, this kindhearted soul had us heading to the train we needed to board.
That encounter was the first of many cordial and helpful interactions we had with the people of France.
Back at the hotel, we had a bit of quiet time before our next excursion.
We would be leaving at seven to attend a French Cabaret dinner and show.
Once again, our Grand Circle guide, Matt, was at his best.
Like clockwork, we were chauffeured to the venue. For this evening, our tables were directly in front of the stage. Scrunched tight in our seats, like vacuum packed blocks of cheese, there was no way that our aging eyes were going to miss any part of the show.
We were nicely wined and dined. Additionally, we started to learn a little bit about our fellow passengers who were crunched around the tables with us. We would all be boarding the ship on Saturday morning.
Our show was named Paradis Latin. From start to finish the script, the choreography, the music, the athletic skills of the dancers, and the humor keep us attentive.
For sure, bare breasts and a bit of naughtiness were woven into the performance. If that was your sole purpose for attending, my guess is you left satisfied.
But the cabaret is so much more.
I could only begin to imagine the amount of practice that it takes to put the show together. To me the performance seemed flawless.
But each performer, whether a dancer, vocal soloist, a singular cello player, or master/mistress of ceremony were skilled with an unbelievable sense of timing.
Backstage, the coordination of costume changes, the lighting, and the thoughtful preparation it takes to support all kinds visual effects is impressive.
And all of this comes together night after night.
At the conclusion, the audience expressed its appreciation to the performers with heartfelt applause. No matter their role, each was an integral part of the success of Paradis Latin.
After the show, our drivers returned safely back to the hotel, but we soon realized we had another challenge.
Grand Circle personnel had consistently warned us to be vigilant about pick pockets. While hoping that he hadn’t fallen prey to a pick pocket, Butch noted that his wallet was missing. He wondered if it had fallen out inside the van we rode, or if it had fallen out during the show.
Either way, our guide, Matt, made the proper contacts with the drivers and the management at the theater. Miraculously, the next day, Matt was notified that the wallet had been found at the theater, and turned into management.
Matt coordinated the return of the wallet to Butch, and when checked by Butch all of the contents of the wallet were present. Another example that there are still good people in this world.
