On Saturday we started out at the Musée Marmottan, an Impressionist museum with the largest Monet collection in the world. I'm not really an art person -- unless it's famous or pretty, I don't really care. And usually, the stuff I find pretty is more naturey, so I really like Monet. This place was more of a gallery than a museum, and I guess those are fancier or something, because I had a dress code issue when I tried to check my coat. The woman at the coat check didn't speak English, and when I started to take off my coat to give her, she pointed at my chest (my shirt was definitely a little low-cut, but nothing obscene), said something in French, made a face, and shook her head. My friend thought she was saying I'd be cold, but I'm pretty sure she was turning up her haughty French nose at my "inappropriate" attire. Speaking of haughty French people, we found that a lot of them are pretty rude. New York has this reputation, but when people bump into me in the city, most of the time they'll say "excuse me" or apologize. Notsomuch here. There were several points where at least one person in my group was ready to punch a passerby.
Anyway, the stuff in the museum was really pretty and I got to see a lot of Monet paintings I recognized, like one with the Japanese bridge at Giverny. You weren't allowed to take pictures, but I decided to be an obnoxious American and had my friend snap this one of me, where I couldn't smile because the guard in the next room would have noticed:
On our way to the next stop, it started snowing. And not little flurries, either -- full-on snow. Luckily, it didn't stick, but after the first ten minutes (when it was pretty funny), it was just a pain in the ass.We went to Notre Dame, which was beautiful and packed. I was only with two of the three girls I went with (the other was with her sister), and both of them are Catholic, so I got to be the token Jew in the Catholic church. It was a very impressive place even if, again, the people who worked there were rude.
After that, I went to the Concergerie while the other two girls checked out some crypts. We thought they were actually seeing the catacombs, which is why I didn't go. (Underground with a bunch of dead bodies? Yeah, I don't think so.) The Conergerie used to function as a few things, including a prison. This is where Marie Antoinette was held before she was executed. I kind of saw her cell, but not really, because when I was walking to stand in front of it I saw a mannequin sitting inside and, as it was combined with low lighting and no one else was there, I freaked.
Then I went to Saint Chapelle, another church, which was gorgeous. The entire thing is stained glass, and I can't imagine how anybody could have ever gone there for mass because they could not have possibly listened to the priest with all that beautiful stained glass around. I took pictures, but something is lost in the translation:
We went out to dinner to another French restaurant (had to do it right while we were there... we also made a few pastry stops). Mom and dad, you will be very impressed: I got a prix fixe meal because it would be cheaper, so I had duck paté as an appetizer (I know! It actually wasn't bad, either), boeuf bourguignon for dinner, and créme brulée for dessert (so good). This time, the French-speaking sister wasn't with us, and unlike at most of the other places, the waitstaff didn't speak English. This actually made it that much more interesting, so we were forced to use the little French we had picked up or that I looked up in my phrase book. We had to ask them for caraffe d'eau (tap water -- if you don't specify here, they give you still water and charge you) and l'addition (the bill). Here's me with my paté:
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