First Full Paris Day

This morning we had breakfast at the Cafe Richard on the corner of R. Tiquetonne. They had no chef till 08:30 so we couldn't get the full English Breakfast, but the cafe owner made breakfast for us instead. The ambient music is the Rolling Stones, with Sympathy for the Devil.

After some confusion with the trains near the cafe we caught the Gallieni line to Pere Lachaise. The Reamur station is undergoing reconstruction so was only a concrete shell and we weren't sure we were on the correct train.

We spent the morning looking around the Pere Lachaise Cemetery and the last resting places of a number of famous people. We also looked through the church across the road.

By 14:00 we we in the Tulleries Gardens where we had lunch at one of the permanent cafes in the gardens. There were a number of these cafes, but not many seemed open. I expect the March weather being unseasonably warm caught them off guard. The forecast for today and the next few days was in the high tens to 20, when typical temperature should be less than 10.

 Croque Monsieur with chips and salad

  

After that we spent some time in the Orangerie till their closing time. The main item is Monet's Nympheas spread across the walls of two oval rooms in the Orangerie ground floor. The other exhibits are under ground level, with Renoir, Cezanne and Derain.

Derain's work in Provence reminded me a lot of scenes in the Flinders Ranges in Australia

After our visit to the Orangerie we were so tired. We struggled through the Metro taking it a few steps at a time. When we got back to the Hotel we laid down for a rest at 16:00 and didn't wake till midnight. I read the internet for a while before going back to sleep. Uschi went back to sleep straight away, neither of us woke up till 07:00 the next day, so we were very tired, from our recent long trip, then spending almost 11 hours on our feet.