just a signature

I did it.

I've finally completed an adventure that I said that I was going to go on, and I did it all by myself. I have conquered Paris.

I woke up at 7am as planned so that I could study before my big adventure. I made my cake and jam and tried to get my studying done, but I was distracted by everything and nothing. I was planning to leave the house at 9, but when I looked at my clock it was already 8:40. I got dressed, double checked that I had packed the essentials (leftover baguette, water, money, metro passes, camera, and directions) and then I hit the road. I walked to Gare de Lyon and tried to remember exactly which entrance Tamara and I took last week when we went to the Biblotheque de Pompidou. I found the right entrance and preceeded to follow the signs that stated "M1 towards La Defense". It wasn't hard to find considering that line one is a major line.

I waited for the train which soon came, but I was startled when the train began moving in a direction that I didn't think was towards the Tuileries. I stayed calm, and it turned out that I was on the right train; standing on a crowded train with possibly German tourists, but the right train nonetheless.

I managed to find the exit and went up the steps. The metro literally drops you off right in front of the Tuileries. I was surprised to find that a group of men were playing soccer right in front of one of the sculptures. I should no longer be surprised by this considering that parks in Paris might be monuments to non-Parisians, but they're just parks to the locals. There were also myriad of people out jogging in the park as well as a handful of early bird tourists like me.

A strange site in the garden was a large hairy, horned goat munching on some grass in one of the flower beds.

Oh, I would also like to note here that I don't really like the gardens in Paris. The garden is laid out with very large gravel pathways. On either side of the pathways are patches of grass with flowers lining the edges….and a small metal rope around it. You can't get anywhere near the flowers. Not my kind of garden, but I will continue to visit the rest of the gardens on my list.

While I was attempting to find the Musee de l'Orangerie on the map, a woman approached me to sign something. I said no, and she responded "just a signature". 1. never sign something in a foreign country 2. why you ask? that's a pitpocket scam. They have you sign a sheet of paper and rob you blind while they're doing it. I should have known to pay more attention while I'm in a tourist trap.

I found the entrance to the museum and walked right in considering that there was no line. I'm just going to rant now and then continue on with the rest of my day so I don't have to repeat the negativity. I hate museum-goers. That's right, I absolutely hate them. People who go to museums because it's another check mark in their guide books truly disgust me. People who take audio guided tours also disgust me. You should be in an art museum because you love art and want to appreciate it. If you're going to power walk through every room, stand in front of a painting with a telephone-looking device that's giving you "knowledge" instead of practicing some good old looking and seeing, or otherwise act inappropriately and ruin other museum-goers' experience (I saw a woman almost touch a painting today) then STAY HOME! Rant over.

The Musee de l'Orangerie is small, but their claim to fame is having the Nympheas paintings by Monet. I actually like his smaller paintings much better. I think the big canvases forced him to cover more area, and they don't really look like anything at all. The museum also has a great collection of other impressionist paintings such as by the likes of Picasso, Renoir, Sisley, Cezanne, and Matisse to name a few. I really like the selection, but the reasons spelled out in the above rant really ruined the experience for me.

After the museum, I ate my baguette in the park. The whole time I kept thinking that I should be enjoying the experience. It's Paris for crying out loud! The garden's gravel, the hot overcast air, the sound of traffic, and the joggers kinda killed it for me. The Paris of guidebooks is not Paris in real life. In real life Paris is a city with people. It's a city.

After my snack, I crossed the road to where I thought I remembered passing the Musee d'Orsay. I had an idea of where it was, but my directions didn't line up with where I thought the museum was from where I had crossed the Seine. I walked left and soon saw a sign that pointed towards the museum. By the time I got there the line for the museum was already huge. I knew that this wasn't going to be a great experience. While waiting in line, with a group of Indian tourists constantly yapping in English behind me, a young man and woman came up. They looked like they were looking for something, but before I knew it, they had squeezed in line in front of me! I was going to say something, but they were so blatant and unapologetic I just let it go. However, I did not cease to get very very angry inside of my head. What kind of people do that?! I do have some solace in the fact that, after they cut in line, the people where they would have been in line were diverted to a shorter line. Crime doesn't always pay.

The museum was crowded, and because I already ranted I'm not going to do it again. Just refer to my above rant times a thousand and you'll get an accurate picture of the Musee d'Orsay. Despite my anger as to the museum-goers, the Musee d'Orsay has a great selection of all types of art. I went straight to the Impressionist exhibit because I love that style of painting the best. I cannot describe to you the feeling of seeing a work of art, that I've only seen in pictures, in real life. I have finally seen Gauguin's works in person that I have seen so many times on tv and in books. I am truly humbled.

I have also seen this work:

Refer to my feelings about Gauguin. My soul has been moved. 

The Musee d'Orsay has so many works and types of works that I can't begin to name them here. I will say that I was very excited to see Van Gogh, Gauguin, Monet, Renoir, and Cezanne. All the works were amazing, and I would recommend this museum to everyone (except maybe not go on a Sunday when the museum is free). 

After exiting the museum, I went back the way I came so that I could get back on the metro at the Tuileries. As I was power walking through the crowds, a man holding a map asked me something in French. I must have answered in English because he preceeded to ask me a dumb question about how long his friends would take to walk to the Tuileries from Trocadero. They were going to call him when they arrived at the garden so he should have just called them on the phone to ask how long it would take for them to arrive. He then preceeded to talk to me for only god knows how long about weird shit that I don't even remember. I should have learned not to talk to strangers earlier when I was almost robbed. 

I went to the Metro and went home to study, and that was my day adventuring. Just like a real Parisienne.  I'm so proud of myself.