From Tulleries Gardens to the Louvre

Tulleries Gardens

After coffee and a shopping trip at the patisserie beside our apartment, we take the Metro to the Louvre and walk through the Tuilleries Gardens. Some parts of the gardens were blocked off…possible clean up from the Olympics. The gardens are still pretty. There are lots of chairs and benches to sit and enjoy them. Some men are playing a friendly game of Boules

I enjoy watching the ducks, crows and pigeons. There is no dignity for statues when pigeons are around.

Vegetables are mixed in with the flower gardens, some ready for harvest.

There are still some signs left of the recent Olympics…including blue bleacher seats, yet to be removed.

l’Orangerie

We go to l’Orangerie and admire Claude Monet’s Water Lilies in the round meditation room. L’Orangerie is a small museum but always a delight.

The Louvre

We walk along the Seine and have lunch in a sidewalk cafe before going to the Louvre with our timed tickets. It is highly recommended to book your Louvre tickets in advance.

I see someone in the courtyard who looks suspiciously like Cami (Emily in Paris). 

It doesn’t take us long to get in. There is so much to see here but we have 6 1/2 hours. The French Crown Jewels are spectacular, as is the room where they’re housed.

Our plan is to go directly to the Mona Lisa which is in the Denon wing but somehow we end up in the Sully wing. The Napoleon III apartments there are breath taking… especially the chandeliers.

I love the rooms filled with tapestries from the 1500s. I especially loved this detail of the dogs…they kind of look like Barbets.

We manage to get totally lost because they blocked off some of the routes but eventually find our way to the main entrance area and have supper in one of the Louvre Cafes… and then we finally find the Mona Lisa.

We continue through the European paintings. So wonderful. Announcements are made that the Louvre is closing. We are both a bit foot sore.

We grab the Metro and head back to our apartment.