Mid Trip

More like "Towards-the-End Trip".  Keeping up with the blog is getting tough.

A little mischief...Susanne with a statue at the Louvre Metro stop.

We had our dinner at Biche & asked our Paris friends to join us.  We prefer a photo with the food on the table, but at that time, the place was jammed & the servers overextended.  So this is an apres-dinner shot; we were one of the last few tables left.

It's a four-course meal...appetizer, main, cheese, dessert with hearty portions all the way around.  Walter had a steak he said was wonderful, Susanne had salmon a la carte, Sherry & I had coq au vin, delicious all.  For dessert we had their chocolat liegeois which is the best double chocolate sundae you'll ever have, even if you order it elsewhere.

A Paris gift.  Susanne & I took a stroll across Republique toward Canal St. Martin and came upon a pick-up brass band.  Note the fellow center left putting up his drum and the homeless guy back right who stood his ground (laid his ground, actually) despite the invading noise.

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We went to the top of Tour Montparnasse, Paris' only skyscraper, 59 floors.  Here's a pic I'd title "Eiffel Tower, with a side of sun".

The touring around Paris & into museums is coming fast & furious...it's going to be hard to keep up.

Did the Rodin Museum...Susanne's absolute favorite place.  She gets very emotional there.

Monsieur Le Penseur greeted her as the first of Rodin's work.

Deep in thought....the musculature is amazing.

Kiss, kiss...

It's little known that Rodin was an accomplished painter, he just didn't care to do it.

Here's how he signed his work:

The overall impression I got from seeing his work:

1. Favored working in three dimensions.
2. He loved doing the human body.
3. He loved couples entwined...kissing, cuddling, holding & more.
4. He loved doing nudes, male & female, alone & together.
5. He did historical persons, Balzac & Victor Hugo among his favorites.
6. His work output was very large; not as enormous as Picasso who worked mostly in two dimensions.

The Gates of Hell, from which Le Penseur was taken, middle, near the top.

Straight from the artist's writings.  G-rating temporarily suspended.

Must move on.  Had lunch at our favorite pho place.  Remodeled, new owners, but same great & very plentiful pho. 

We shared this bowl & had trouble finishing it.

Whenever we come to Paris there is always a moderately naughty poster, some naughtier than others.  This is part of a poster at a Metro stop, more edgy than naughty.

Paris has some strange street names.  On previous trips we've discovered God Street and Bad Boys Street.  Here's Two Avenues Street:

One of the great pleasures of coming to Paris is re-connecting with old friends.  And it's even more so when it's someone we knew back in Scottsdale.  We met up with Laurie who has an almost life-long association with France & Paris.  We volunteered on the same shift in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Program, then she moved to Paris & lives here full time.

Susanne took this shot as we walked to lunch with Walter & Sherry.  I'm carrying a bag from the Marmottan-Monet Museum gift shop.

As you work your way around Paris, the Eiffel Tower pops up unexpectedly.  We've left the Monet museum, heading back to the Metro...

And of course, the once-every-trip night photo.

Walter & Sherry are off to Giverney...Monet country.  Susanne & I are hanging for the day.