Crossing the Seine to the Tuileries
May 23, 2024 — Day 7 (Thursday)
Cloudy and cool today so we didn’t take our hats. After breakfast we walked over to see if L’Empire Café was still in business. It is but the prices have gone up considerably although still very reasonable. Then we walked over to the Tuileries and claimed a couple chairs and watched people, crows and ducks wander around. There is always something to watch in the Tuileries.
The Tuileries Gardens
Wedding pictures in the Tuileries
Walking through the Tuileries to the Olympics bleachers
We eventually walked back to L’Empire and were seated for lunch. I got the confit de canard I’ve been coveting since we got here. Ed joined me. Despite costing 3.50 euros more than last time, it was delicious. We were sandwiched in between two French ladies and a young Chinese couple who had a lot of trouble translating the menu. Not knowing a word of Chinese nor even which dialect they spoke, we couldn’t help. They finally figured it out with help from their version of Google. We also got the nougat ice cream with a decadent chocolate sauce and smothered in toasted almonds. I added an espresso and we had a perfect meal. [Café de L'Empire, 17 Rue du Bac; tel: +33 (0)1 4015-9118]
Café de L'Empire in Paris - photo from a previous trip
We walked back to and through the Tuileries planning to continue on to the Hôtel de la Marine for their special exhibit. However, at the end it was completely closed off because they were building huge bleachers for the spectators at the upcoming Olympics. This meant climbing up to the Jeu de Paume level and then climbing back down to the street level but I managed. We crossed the street to discover the Marshall Plan had been signed at the hôtel there. After reading and photographing the plaque, we walked on to the Hôtel de la Marine where a kindly guard showed us where the ticket office was. They had a special line for credit cards and there was no one in it so we got right in, were given headphones and found an elevator up to the exhibit. Great luck!
Hôtel Saint-Florentin where the Marshall Plan was signed
Hôtel de la Marine on the Place de la Concorde in Paris
We walked through an interactive exhibit about the history of the building and the French navy. We quickly discovered the headphones fell off when you put them on as directed so we switched and put them on backwards and they stayed on nicely . . . and you could hear just fine. The end of that section of the exhibit was a walk along the balcony with a great view of Place de la Concorde, the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais . . . except the Place de la Concorde was a complete mess with bleachers being built all over the square. You could see everything but the surroundings were less than enchanting. Glad it wasn’t our first or only trip!
The Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde - Paris - Entrance courtyard
The Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde - Paris
The Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde - Paris
The Place de la Concorde from the Hôtel de la Marine - Paris
The Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde - Paris
The Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde - Paris - an interactive exhibit
The Place de la Concorde from the Hôtel de la Marine - Paris
Next we walked over to the Al Thani Collection, a temporary exhibit of Renaissance art from the Al Thani Collection, and walked through that with our head sets. It was a bit of a shock to walk into the exhibit that was in the dark to show off the jewelry. I couldn’t see a thing for about five minutes and several older people simply left. They had sparkly things hanging from the ceiling all over the first room and each piece of Renaissance jewelry was highlighted in a little case. It really was beautiful once the eyes adjusted. I sent a photo of one of the pieces to Ain to show his wife, Ana, who makes gorgeous jewelry. The second gallery had paintings and both practical objects and objets d’art. They did have the original Holbein of Henry VIII which was interesting.
The Al Thani temporary exhibit at the Hotel de la Marine in Paris - very dark
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - The Sacrifice of Isaac 1560
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - Zodiaque Arundel - Italian 1540
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - Pendant of Archduke Maxmilian III by Antonio Abondio 1586
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - Coupe Couverte by Caspar Widman, Nuremberg - mid 16th century
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - Bust of Hadrien 1250
Al Thani Collection at the Hôtel de la Marine - Portrait of Henry VIII by Hans Holbein the Younger 1550
When we walked out, there was a lady waiting to take our headphones so we didn’t have to search for a place to turn them in. The folks who worked there were lovely.
We then set off on the long walk home. We decided rue de Rivoli would be an easier walk than trying to get back up to the Tuileries. That worked well and we walked down to the main entrance to the Louvre, across the courtyard, across the street and wound our way back to check on a bus to the Marmottan-Monet for tomorrow.
Walking past Zadkine on our way home
On the way home we stopped at Eric Kayser and bought our baguette du jour and it made a lovely dinner.
This featured blog entry was written by Beausoleil from the blog Paris Was Preparing for the Olympics.
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