simplybrad

Another gorgeous day in Paris so what does one do? That's easy, go shopping and eating.

Up late, we hop on the Metro and head over to the flea market and do some shopping. Then over to the Centre Pompidou for lunch at Georges.

Dinner at Les Bouquinistes.

Off the plane and in the Latin Quarter by St. Michelle having lunch. Selena met us for lunch before she headed back to London. Spent the day chillin' and taking in the Paris vibe. The timing has been great as I left Chicago in a rainy, mid 40s, dreary day to arrive in Paris with sunny 80F weather. Perfect

Dinner at L'Ami Jean.

More photos here.

Odd how I find myself heading over to my favorite city to unwind from work and pressures of life in general.

This trip will be a continuation of fun. Heading over as well is a great friend and creative mentor from my Burnett days and while over there, another will be dropping in from London.

More photos here.

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Today is a national holiday for one of my favorite foreign countries. More commonly associated with storming of the Bastille in 1789, officially it celebrates the Fête de la Fédération. Find out all you need to know and more here,

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I finally have photos posted from trip. I am still having some technical issues but my host is working on it. The direct link to the photos is here.

It’s a gorgeous day out. The sun is shinning. I have no agenda for today. I head out towards Printemps and Galleries Lafayette for some shopping. I take different streets. Nothing in particular, just different streets. I quickly go through these two giant stores, not sure of what I was thinking as this is way too American. If you want shopping, go to St. Germain.

I get out and start walking around again, taking pictures of the city. I end up walking around the Opera National de Paris bullding and take some pictures of the ornamentation around it. I don’t think I have ever been to an Opera or inside an Opera building. I decided to tour the inside.

After the Opera visit I wander around the city some more. Taking more pictures. I wind up over at Les Halles and take advantge of getting some good shots of the head and hand sculpture. Les Halles is kind of a dump. It is the site of the old market that was leveled and an underground mall put in it’s place. Avoid the mall part.

Thankfully I am up a little later today. It’s around 8:00 so I get a ready a little quicker. Today is Musée d’Orsay. I thought it was just about the Impressionist. It’s a large part but it covers everything between 1848 to 1914. Of course the paintings are exceptional but once again I was focused on the sculptures. I also found the Art Nouveau exceptional. I have always been a fan of Art Nouveau from posters and typography from my days in sign painting. What blew me away more about this movement was the room displays with the outlandish furniture. The rooms give you a much better appreciation for this art. Very cool how it works together in a room. I did by a book on understanding the paintings in the Orsay collection.