It's gotta be worth missing out on crepes.

Written by: Amy sitting in yet another corralling (mooooooo) area in Beauvais.

Breakfast was great at the hotel again, but we were on our last day in Paris and were jones-ing for some crepes.  But, our research said we couldn’t leave Paris without seeing the Musee d’Orsay.   So, that is where today’s adventure begins.  We packed and dumped our luggage at the front desk so we could be hands free today.

The Orsay was amazing. 

They do not allow photography in the Orsay, but I got this one shot before I knew.

If we hadn’t already been museum-ed out, it would have been the best one we’d seen so far.  Since the Orsay is significantly smaller than the Louvre, you automatically feel more comfortable in it.  That is, until you get snagged by security because you are wearing a backpack.  No, I’m not kidding.  Some big security dude grabbed me by my backpack and ordered me to do something in French with his serious face on.  I’m clueless at this point, but I’m not arguing with what looks to be a pissed off French guerilla.  While it did occur to me that this would be the PERFECT time to cross “Smack a French person” off my bucket list, I figured that smacking this guy might result in some serious type consequences as I would be squished like a bug. 

Once I cleared the smacking thoughts from my brain, I realized quickly what was going on.   You see, some other pissed off French person with a giant backpack was trying to get into the museum and being denied access because of his backpack.  So, in a spate of douchebaggery, he points out to the security guerilla that he let me in with a backpack and how unfair that was.  As a result of this guys whining, I get picked up by backpack (which feels an a lot like being dragged around by the scruff of you neck if you were wondering) and marched to the coat check area where someone finally explained what was going on in English.  It turns out that the coat check woman thought my backpack was small enough to be able to go through the museum, but I was not taking any chances.  Your outlook changes when there are police officers outside every place you visit with machine guns.  It makes you less likely to piss anyone off.  Sends the signal that these are not guidelines.

There were more amazing art by the masters.  Although, this museum had way more Impressionists than the other places.  Monet, Van Gogh, Manet, Cezanne, Renoir and many others adorned the walls.  There were sculptures too.  Again, amazing overload.  We got one of the audio tour devices, but rarely used it as not all of us could listen at one time.  So, it frustrated those who could not hear the spiel.  It was easier to just not use it. 

After all that art, we needed to walk.  Since we were close to the Seine, we walked over it to the Tulleries Gardens,  Concord, and to the Champs Elysees and all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe.  Instead of paying to go to the top, the kids decided that hunting for crepes seemed more fun.  So, we started our crepe hunt on the way to the Pantheon. 

Concord Circle.

Arc de Triomphe.  I'm in the middle of the street for this shot.

Yep, those are people walking on the Champs Elysees!

We had no luck finding a place on the Champs Elysees.  Since it’s Sunday, most of Paris was closed—including all the creperies.  We even struck out after our Metro ride to the “Latin Quarter” where the Pantheon lives.  Instead, we found a great little café named Le Descartes! 

So awesome!

For those that are as cool as me, you know that Descartes was another mathematical giant. He is responsible for the Cartesian (x, y) plane.  It turns out that on our way to the Pantheon, we found the place where he lived the short time he was in Paris.  Cool, cool, cool!!! 

Front side of the Pantheon.

Lunch was great, but no crepes in sight.  But, we consoled ourselves that the Pantheon would be worth missing crepes. 

Back side of the Pantheon.

After we paid our entry fee, we discovered that the Pantheon was not really worth giving up crepes.  I am absolutely sure that if you were French or even spoke French, you might get something out of it.  But, since that is not me, I didn’t get much from it.  There’s a lot of historically significant stuff in there, it’s just not that accessible for non-natives. There were even tours about the Pantheon’s significance in relation to the history of France…in French.  What I got out of it was the Pantheon used to be a church dedicated to the patron saint of Paris—Saint Genevieve.  But, the building has changed over and over and now it is a place to put stuff that has some historical significance.  Also, the crypts now hold the remains of many important French people.  I was stoked to find my kind represented by finding the resting places of Lagrange and Marie Curie.   I was a little creeped out to learn that many of the people who now are inside the necropolis have been moved here from other cemeteries.  Others only have their hearts placed in urns and left in the Pantheon.  Things that make you go hmmmm.

Overall, we were disappointed by our Pantheonic experience and bailed in favor of finding a creperie open.  I remembered that there were several of these places close to our hotel, so we trudged back through the Metro (trading our bad Metro tickets for good ones so Colleen didn’t have to squeeze herself under the barricade anymore) and found an open creperie a block a way from the hotel.  We all ordered a different type of crepe. 

We found one!

We shared bites with each other.  Delicious!

By then, we were done with our Paris experience.  Instead of trying to fit one more thing in, we gathered our luggage and popped back on the Metro to Port Maillot where we got loaded on our bus back to Beauvais airport.

Au Revoir Paris!