Wednesday 16 October:
Today we originally planned to go to Chartres to tour the Cathedral but changed our plans since we had so little time in Paris. Instead, we went to the Grand Palais for the Toulouse Lautrec special exhibit. Then to the Petit Palais for its free collection. It also happened to be the beginning of FIAC so we were treated to modern art exhibits in public spaces and at Petit Palais. We’d never been to the Grand or Petit Palais before. The buildings and surroundings are beautiful.
The Toulouse Lautrec exhibit space was surprisingly lacking in character (we could have been anywhere!).
The Toulouse Lautrec exhibit space was surprisingly lacking in character (we could have been anywhere!).
The Toulouse Lautrec exhibit was very well curated. He was quite accomplished for having died at the age of 37 years. It was only crowded when guided tours were passing through. We took our time and saw everything in about 2 hours.
Afterwards, we perused the offerings at the food trucks (for FIAC, out in the street between Grand and Petit Palais) but it was drizzly and cold so we got lunch at the Petit Palais. My chicken salad and husband’s mushroom and pasta were ok but quite expensive. We wouldn’t eat there again.
After lunch, we walked through the Petit Palais’ collection and were very impressed. It wasn’t crowded. There was some English signage. And it’s free. One room was all FIAC modern art stuff, by which we were mostly baffled.
We left the Palais and headed away from the river, crossing the Champs Elysees, along tree lined streets, enjoying the beauty of this city.
We stopped at Café Beauvau for drinks. It was super quiet. We then stopped at Vin Bis Beotie which was more lively. As was Le Mesnil right across from the Miromesnil Metro entrance. Every place gave us a little snack of some sort (nuts, popcorn, chips) and we were getting full but hungry for real food.
We decided to try Le Scheffer back in Passy. Husband got a steak and I got the fish. Both were great. The place was almost completely full with, it seemed, mostly French people. It was boisterous and the staff were efficient in serving all of us. We enjoyed it.
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