The temperature in Paris has climbed to a street melting 100 degrees for the last 2 days.  Still, there are sights to see, and limited time, so off we go.  Margaret and I started early with a trip to Montmartre, the bohemian district of fin de siècle Paris with its cobbled streets and corner hangouts.  Van Gogh and his contemporaries stumbled these streets after a night of absinthe and dissolution, only to wake up and create a new world of art.  We then went in search of macaroons, but failed in our objective, when we walked right past the store we were looking for on Rue de Bonaparte.  We’ll try again today.

After that began what I now call our Paris Museum Death March.  Matt, Margaret, Sam and myself started with a visit to Les Invalides with a military museum, a beautiful chapel, and most significantly Napolean’s tomb.  Let me tell you, that guy gets some serious love from the French people with an elaborate rotunda of marble and a sunken burial chamber where the sarcophagus can be viewed.

Next on our list was the nearby Rodin museum, where many of his famous sculptures are displayed among beautiful gardens and the home where he lived.  We stopped here for lunch under the shade of the trees, and continued to drink liters of water to stay hydrated.

Next stop was the Orangerie, where Monet’s water lilies are on display.  But here we struck out, as the line was too long and the heat too fierce.  In our only retreat of the day we met our Waterloo, and fled for the coolness of the Metro and headed back to our apartment to collect Melissa and Sarah who had spent a relaxed morning in Luxembourg Gardens.  Then off we went for more punishment.

A quick tour of Notre Dame showed us the inside of the Cathedral with its massive arches and galleries. It’s incredible to think this was all built with hand labor and took centuries to complete.

Our final visit for the day was the massive Louvre, which for shear volume is overwhelming.  Now with limited time and dinner reservations pending we passed through gallery after gallery of priceless treasures with barely a glance, in search of the two pieces you must see.  These of course are Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo.  Here is the photographic proof of our success:

Near exhaustion, bloated like Michellin men from all the water and with blistered feet and aching legs, we at last called it a day.  Our final destination was a small restaurant around the corner from our apartment called Timbre, where we had a memorable meal.  The menu is set, with 3, 4, or 5 courses.  We had seared tuna gazpacho, turbot with potato cream and leeks, sweetbreads, Guinea fowl cooked 2 ways, and strawberries with sorbet for dessert. The French certainly know how to cook!

Then home to bed, and tomorrow off for Avignon.