the rowleys: Paris II - the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay

I woke up really early when it was still dark our second day in Paris. I couldn't go back to sleep and my body ached from the terrible pullout bed and I had a massive headache. I thought maybe I was sick cause I felt a little bit nauseous. we were able to find a pharmacy nearby (they only sell medication or actual pharmacies and won't sell them in any other stores) and I bought some headache medication and was starting to feel way better. I think the headache was from the jet lag and the lack of sleep. I was so happy that I was feeling better because we still had so much to see of Paris!
Paris is so dreamy in the early morning- actually it is dreamy any time of day!

our corner bakery where we would eat delicious croissants and pastries for breakfast. I'm not sure what they do to make their croissants so delicious but the US really needs to learn from them!

we went to see the Eiffel tower during the day.

we walked across the Pont Alexandre III bridge again. the bridge was built in the late 19th century and crosses over the Seine river. it is so beautiful with an amazing view of the Eiffel tower, Seine river and the city. everywhere we went in Paris was so stunning and romantic.

our first museum was visited was Musée de l'Orangerie which features many of Monet's huge water lily paintings. the museum was very small but the water lily paintings are amazing to see in person. we got the Paris museum pass and this was included on it.

Jason's pose is pretty funny.

Jason is actually having a good time but he just haates pictures. which is too bad because he looks good in them when he actually smiles!

we walked across the love locks bridge. you and your love are supposed to write your names on a lock before putting it on the bridge symbolizing your love. I am not sure if this is the original lock bridge because I had heard that the bridge fencing was partially collapsing from the weight of the locks so they had to take them down. maybe they did take them down them people started doing it again because there didn't seem to be as many as I had seen in pictures.

we went to the Musée d'Orsay which is in an old train station. the building was incredible as was the art and it was probably my favorite museum we visited in Paris- maybe even everywhere we went in Europe.

I loved this portrait by Amaury-Duval of Madame de Loynes. the contrast of her pale skin with her dark hair is so stunning. I found that I was drawn to the portraits the most at the museums. I love to see the exquisite clothing and they seem much more personal than say war scenes.

they had paintings by Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Seurat and so many others. this painting looks a lot like Starry Night by Van Gogh but it is a similar work by him. I always make fun of Jason for getting teary eyed after seeing Starry Night at the MOMA on our honeymoon. here he is reenacting that emotional time :)

and apparently turkey pictures get him emotional too - hah!

this Renoir painting is beautiful called Danse a la ville or Dance in the City.

I want her dress!!

antique mirror selfie :)

this clock face with the view behind it was so incredible. I wish I had done a better pose for the silhouette but there were people waiting for pictures so we just took a couple quick ones.

we left the museum and walked to the Louvre taking in the city as we went.

the Louvre! I'm not sure why the glass pyramid was covered but it was a little disappointing.

the Louvre was humongous, way bigger than the other museums we went to, and also much more crowded. it was very beautiful though and would take many trips to actually see everything.

the Mona Lisa! you really can't get very close to it and there are so many people clamoring to get a picture. honestly if it weren't so famous no one would even look twice at it. still it is iconic and I'm glad I got to see it in person. they said in peak season it gets so crowded that you have to reserve a time just to get into the room. we were in and out of there in about 10 minutes and didn't have to wait at all to see it.

view of the exterior from inside the museum.

Íñigo Melchor Fernández de Velasco of Spain. such a great outfit.

I always love finding dogs in museum paintings- especially ones that look a bit like Tarley. and this one gets to play with a monkey on a leash!!

Venus de Milo. the Louvre is huge and you could spend all day there and still not see everything. we picked exhibits and sections that we wanted to see like the Mona Lisa, Ancient Egypt, and the Roman statues.

we ate dinner at Le Nemours which was close to the Louvre. I had read to not eat at restaurants close to tourist sites because they are not as authentic but we were hungry and didn't want to spend a lot of time looking for somewhere to eat. also we wanted to stay nearby since we planned on going back to the Louvre. we didn't really fall in love with french food while we were there (except for the delicious crepes and croissants). I think we just didn't eat at the right places but we didn't want to eat at anywhere too expensive which is probably where you find the great food. our waiter was a little surly- he seemed like the type of Parisian that gives them their reputation for being snooty. we actually found most Parisians we met to be kind but rather just not as ostentatious and overly friendly as Americans.