Parisian Rain
- Location: Paris, France
- Aug 6, 2016
- 3 min read
The first stop on our European Summer: France Edition was, of course, Paris. My mother had flown back from Washington State to Germany with us to experience a full summer of travel, and I felt Paris would be the ultimate way to begin what would surely be a wondrous Summer. And although it was raining quite consistently for May, we'd seen Midnight in Paris enough times to know that Paris in the rain was supposed to be quite glorious. Then again...no one ever said anything about Paris in a flood....
Fortunately, we seemed to stay one step ahead of the flooding the entire time we were in France. Not that that meant anything to the local Parisians, and other unfortunate French citizens, whose homes and businesses were being threatened and badly damaged by the rising waters of the Seine. However, Paris remained quite calm and collected during the minor turmoil.
My mother and I rented a flat for a couple of days in the ____ district, a nice little area with a somewhat local feel to it, and easily access to public transportation - a must when in Paris. (We'd driven our car in, however, as we were driving all across Northern France, and that was a nightmare. Driving in Paris is NOT for the faint of heart.) We indulged in all of the musts, including yummy croissants, café au lait, and of course the incredible pâtisseries of Angelina and Lauderée. Seriously...don't miss out on their macarons. Like little colorful drops of heaven.
As my mother is an artist, our trip was primarily focused on visiting the top art museums, including the Musée d'Orsay, Musée de l'Orangerie, and the Musée du Louvre (which closed due to flooding the day after our visit - yikes). Paris truly is an incredible art haven and has so much to offer for both the avid artist and the casual tourist.
My favorite part of the trip (aside from indulging in the sweets of Lauderée, of course), was definitely visiting l'Orangerie and finally seeing Claude Monet's Water Lily series in person. As a big fan of Impressionism, the bright white rooms filled with his giant canvases of soft, yet intensely moving colors were simply breathtaking. As my mother took a seat in the center of the room to take in the paintings, I circled the rooms many times to take in all of the stunning detail.
After drooling over some of the most beautiful paintings I've had the pleasure of viewing, I tore myself away from the Orangerie, wiped off my chin, and spent some time in the lovely Jardin des Tuileries with some delicious café ice cream and the beloved Puss-in-Boots statue (a little gem hidden in the Garden).
And of course a trip to Paris would never be complete without a visit to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. For even in a chilly and rather soggy climate, Notre Dame is lovely and the Tower is always impressive stunning.
Just as before, touring Paris was a wonderful experience - even if our feet were a little chilly and wet. I will say this: I got lots of use of my new Zara trenchcoat. And in spite of the ever-mounting threat of the River Seine busting forth from its banks and flooding us into our AirBNB apartment for the rest of our trip, we had a lovely time and even left on time for our next location: Giverny & the home of Claude Monet.
♥M.
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