Favorites and foodie heaven #2

Day 15: Le Louvre, foodie lunch #2, L'Orangerie

Today was husband's birthday.  We planned to celebrate with lunch at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse, which we've decided will be another Paris tradition (we loved our lunch there in 2015).  Our reservation wasn't until 145pm so we had a few hours to fill.  We decided to visit Le Louvre.

The weather was spectacular. Paris was extra beautiful, and that's saying a lot!

It was early and there were few people ahead of us in the Museum Pass holders line. After security, we entered under the pyramid, always an impressive thing.

So the Louvre is terribly confusing to navigate. This was our 5th time visiting this massive museum. We knew we wanted to see things we hadn't before but how to get there? We grabbed the museum map. I logged into the free wifi and opened up the Louvre app.  And off we went.

The views from some random room on a top floor were incredible--we could see all three arches!

We ended up in the French paintings from 1780-1850 section and were pleased with what we saw.  Particularly the Delacroixs.  We enjoyed our visit to his house, now a lovely museum, in the 6th, in 2015, but I somehow hadn't realized how prolific he was.

Delacroix, The Prisoner of Chillon, 1834

Camille Corot, Chartres Cathedral, 1830

Delacroix, Pieta, 1837

 Hyacinth Rigaud, Portrait of Louis XIV, 1701

Francois Bouchet,
Portrait of the Marquise de Pompadour, 1703

We walked about in the Apollo Gallery.  It was designed in 1661 to glorify Louis XIV.  There are 41 paintings and 36 stucco figures  on the ceiling.  The middle of the ceiling has a Delacroix, Apollo Vanquishing the Serpent Python.  The Crown Gems of Louis XIV were installed here in 1861 and the Crown Jewels were placed here in 1888.  This gallery is stupendously beautiful and why I always say "look up!"

Since we were (mostly) finding our way using the map and the app, I told husband that I wanted to see  "the big french paintings, like the Davids." He was game for the hunt!  The only problem was that they were in the same area as the Mona Lisa, an always unpleasantly overcrowded gallery.

No matter, we skirted most of the tourists, even peeked at Mona again (she's still tiny, behind a rope and glass, and way too popular with the selfie taking hordes), before perusing the gorgeous art all around.  Art that most people were ignoring in favor of the aforementioned popular lady.

Veronese, the Wedding of Cana, 1562

I love this Delacroix:
28th of July, Liberty Guiding the People, 1838

Ingres, The great odalisque, 1814

I'm always impressed by David's painting of Napoleon Crowning Josephine.  It's so massive and so beautiful and so rich with history and narcissism.  So many tales told in one painting.

David, Napoleon crowns Josephine, 1806-1807

There are so many people in the painting, there's a handy "who's who" on the frame.

My (bad) panoramic shot

David, Madame Recamier, 1880

We said "au revoir" after about 3-3.5 hours. We felt it was our most successfully navigated tour of the Louvre so far.  Husband was just happy we didn't stumble into the sculpture garden, which he intensely dislikes for some weird reason.  We'll definitely be back next time!

Our next order of business was husband's birthday lunch at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse.  We went there in 2015 and loved it.  We decided it would be a "tradition" to lunch there whenever we were lucky enough to be in Paris.

It was an easy walk there from the Louvre. But I really didn't enjoy all the souvenir shops and crowds on the way.

Le Meurice Alain Ducasse is a 2 Michelin star restaurant with an interior that looks like Versailles.  It's beautiful.  It was remodeled since our last visit and we had fun finding the differences.  One of the main ones, to me, was that the entrance door was off the lobby foyer instead of through the Dali Restaurant, which husband didn't really remember.  And the center of the restaurant was enhanced by a gorgeous centerpiece.  It was just ridiculously beautiful.

And the service and food were just as wonderful as before.  I made sure to tell them "I don't eat red meat or pork" and they accommodated me without problems.

Amuse bouche--one gone before I could get a pic!

Veggies over rock salt

The dip for the veggies. I love the little long fork

So pretty! And comfortable

The recommended wine was delicious

Delicious fish

Husband's red meat

We felt confident when ordering the cheeses!

Pear and ice cream dessert

Happy Birthday!!

We lingered over coffee and dessert but alas, it was time to go.  It was a splurge but lunch at Le Meurice Alain Ducasse was as memorable and enjoyable as last time.  We definitely plan to keep this tradition going!

We made our way over to Place Vendome.  We peeked into the Ritz and that is a place I'd love to stay! Maybe when we win the Powerball, lol.

We browsed in the super fancy shops, me drooling over diamonds and husband over Rolexes.

We made our way past the fancy cars, the beautiful Haussman buildings to La Madeleine Church. It's a Greco-Roman temple with huge Corinthian columns in the middle of a busy intersection. It was impressive from a distance but less up close, I just remember it being dark and big.  I have not a single photo of the interior or exterior...

We walked around the neighborhood and I got a pic of the pretty blue doors that I like so much.  I wonder if all the doors in the complex are also blue? Our rental's doors were green and most of the apartment doors were also green.

We made our way to L'Orangerie, another of our favorites in Paris.  I really don't get tired of looking at the huge Monet Water Lilly canvasses.  They're just perfect.

The rest of the collection at L'Orangerie is captivating as well.  We closed down the place at 6pm.

Monet, Argenteuil, 1875

Cezzane, Trees and Houses, 1885-1886

The sun setting on L'Orangerie

We walked around the Tuilleries. As we left, we were glad we were on foot because the traffic was terrible.

We made our way to Le Drop Cafe.  Happy hour was still going on so we grabbed a table by the window and enjoyed a couple of drinks and popcorn while watching cars and people go by.

The sun was setting beautifully so we walked back to the Seine to enjoy it.

And so ended husband's birthday in Paris.  What a wonderful day it was!

Takeaways:
1.  Celebrating special occasions in special places--what's not to like!
2.  The Louvre app was very helpful in navigating the museum. We got lost a lot less.
3.  The museum pass is worth it to us.
4.  While there's no ~bad~  area to stay in central Paris, some are more touristy and less neighborhood-y than others. I'd not want to stay along Rue de Rivoli (and I can't afford it anyway).
5.  Next time, we're having drinks in the Ritz.
6.  Sitting in a cafe, drinking and watching Paris go by--Yes, please.
7.  I love Paris!

Next: Our last day is a Journees de Patrimoine day!