Paris Vacation Photojournal -- January 15 - 21, 2011

This place was on the same block as the hotel.  It's called "Breakfast in America."  All of my guidebooks listed it as a great place to go for food and to see the locals enjoying american style food.  So, wanting a breakfast that was not containing raw eggs today, I decided to check it out.  The food was actually really good and the dude that was serving was an american student type that spoke perfect english.  It was sort of unique in that each table had their own toaster so toast was served as plain bread with instructions to put it in your little toaster.  Also, the hash browns (more like home fries) were very good.  I think they par-boiled them and then flash fried them for a few seconds.  They were really good; although, they were not salted... not a very American like approach!

Took the Metro out to the Arc de Triumph today.  The Arc is much bigger than I had expected.  It's an extremely ornate monument and the only way you can get right up to it is to go through an underground tunnel.  On the surface, the entire thing is in the middle of one of the biggest traffic circles I've ever seen.

Decided to take the tour of the Arc.  You basically climb up the spiral stairs that are in the North column and when you are done, you descend on the South column.  When you get to the top of the stairs you come to the inner chamber of the Arc where there is a gift shop and some historical information about the Arc.  There is also a replica of one of the heads that is on the upper portion of the Arc.  It's huge when you are standing right next to it. The head was about 7 feet tall.  From this inner chamber you climb a few more stairs and emerge outside, on top of the Arc.

It's a pretty cloudy/hazy morning but at least the sun is trying to come out and it isn't raining at all.  These shots are from the top of the Arc de Triomphe.  One great thing about being in Paris in the off season is that nobody else is around.  There were less than a dozen people on the roof with me so I had my pick of the best shots and nobody trying to bump me out of the way.  Sacré-Coeur looked particularly picturesque from this location.

After visiting the Arc de Triomphe, I walked down the Camps-Élysées to Place de la Concorde. Since I bought a two day Paris Museum Pass when I did the Arc tour, I decided to take advantage of the Musée d'Orsay.  The pass covers admission to several of the best places to visit in Paris, including the Orsay museum and the Louvre.  The Musée d'Orsay is housed in an old railway station and was converted to a museum in 1977.  The facility is substantially smaller that the Louvre which also makes it more manageable.  There are several paintings from Van Gogh, Renoir and Manet here.  One of the highlights for me was to see one of Van Gogh's 37 self portraits.  I don't have any pictures from the museum because they didn't allow cameras to be used.

The museum was a little weird in that they were very inconsistent with their security procedures.  There was a big sign that said no backpacks after you go through the metal detectors and right before you enter the museum.  I was carrying my backpack and my camera bag.  They made me check them both at the coat check, which was fine since it was nice to get the weight off my back.  However, once inside, there was no end to the number of people carrying backpacks and camera bags!  Not sure why I got singled out but it's probably because I look like a criminal.    

Jan 19, 2011 -- 3:15pm GMT + 1

After visiting the Musée d'Orsay I visited a place called Angelina's on Rue de Rivoli.  One of Sandro's coworkers recommended trying their hot chocolate and pastries.  Their pastries were works of art and their hot chocolate was unlike anything I've ever tasted.  I am no fan of chocolate but this stuff was like crack.  After the stuff was gone I actually had cravings for more for about 2 hours.  It was like drinking melted chocolate more than what we have in America which is chocolate flavored milk or water.  I also had my first real French macaron (not macaroon) here.  I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to make these at home for over a year.  They were very very good here.  The vanilla one was the absolute best.  There is a little shop in ballard that has them and they were actually just as good from Ballard as in France.  That little patisserie in Ballard has some really awesome pastries when compared to those of a high class patisserie in France.