Paris - The Louvre and Musee D'Orsay

We got in to Paris in the evening and headed downtown for dinner immediately. We had been on the plane all day, we were starving. We ended up eating in St. Germain (an area of Paris south of the Seine). It was this French-Italian fusion place. Soooo good. I had a salad that was like half tomatoes with this really good dressing and hot goat cheese cakes on top. Thanx to Kyle and Alex for teaching me to appreciate goat cheese. Then I had lemon chicken and chocolate mousse for dessert and French wine of course. The food is so fantastic in Paris. Here is a picture of us out front of that restaurant. The next day I went to the Musee D'Orsay and the Louvre. I spent about 3 hours at the D'Orsay and 5 at the Louvre. This is the interior of the D'Orsay, it used to be a train station before it was a museum. It is much smaller than the Louvre of course, but it is a really cool museum. I may actually prefer it to the Louvre, the Louvre being almost too big. The D'Orsay has an amazing collection of Impressionists and scultpure as well. I really enjoyed my vistit there. I saw lots of Van Goghs, Whistler's Mother, The Birth of Venus, and lots of other famous paintings. I really liked this statue of a polar bear. It was like 8 or 9 feet high and not by a artist I recognized, but I really like the lines on it. Then I headed over to the Louvre. It is virtually impossible to take a picture of the whole thing, it is just too big. But here is Amanda and I in front of the famous glass pyramid that you enter through. They won't let you take pictures of the Mona Lisa, but I got some good shots of some other famous things. Here is a picture of the Venus de Milo.It was real crowded around the more famous paintings and sculptures. So I saw the Mona Lisa, not that impressed. Venus de Milo, Cupid and Psyche which was really cool. There were so many really cool things there. I got a shot of this really famous picture of Louis XIV, cause if anything is quintessential France, it was the Sun King.I also the crown jewels which were some of the more fabulous things I have ever seen. But they would not let you take pictures in that room. Guess they are worried people would case the joint. But I gotta say, it is good to be the Queen. This it the stairway in the entranceway of the Louvre. I just thought it was a really cool piece of architecture. It is right underneath the glass pyramid.
By then it was late so we went and got dinner in the Latin Quarter and then crashed. I had a really good first day in Paris. It rained so it was the perfect day to do the museums. I took a lot more pictures than are posted here, but it is just too many, so when I get home you can all look at the full set. The next day was Versailles, I will post it soon. Love you all. Bon soir!