It’s Day Two of Paris and it happened to be the 1st Sunday of the month so all museums were FREE!!! Yippee! So in the morning we headed across the Seine towards Musee d’Orsay. On the way, we found a patisserie/boulangerie called Eric Kayes, which I had read about. I was pleasantly surprised to find it on accident and that they were open! In Paris, a lot of stores and shoppes are closed on Sundays and Mondays so it seemed like it was going to be slim pickin’s that day. But we were in luck. I got a tasty 3-tomato quiche and cappuccino and Jes got a ham and cheese sandwich and espresso. There was so much to see and try there. One day I will go back for some of their sweets.

At Musee d’Orsay, I found the famous elephant out front. It made me so giddy. The line outside was not very long and moved rather quickly. It was mainly for a security check since no one had to pay. Inside they were very clear that photography was not allowed. Too bad because the museum is in an old train station and so pretty inside!

But not to worry! I still managed to sneak a couple of photos with my iPhone. Heh heh. Part of the museum was under renovation so many of their famous works are actually in the de Young in SF right now!

We went a few months ago to see them but they still had the Ballerina statue by Degas and Van Gogh’s self-portrait in Paris. The rest of it will also be on display starting Sept 22 in SF. Can’t wait to go back!

Afterward, we took a little wine break on the Seine.  It was sunny and warm that afternoon.  What a change from San Francisco coldness.

The next stop was Musee Rodin.  It’s a much smaller museum that features a large mansion surrounded by a huge garden.  That’s where we saw the famous “Thinker” sitting atop a tall stand in the garden.  Apparently there are several copies of this statue (like the one in the Palace of Fine Arts in SF) but this was the original one.

It was time for another break so we walked down past Napoleon’s “eternal home” where his remains now live.  It’s basically a gigantic palace with canons lined up in front with a view of the Eiffel Tower.

We then found a pedestrian street called Rue Cler where we picked up some pastries at Maison Auvray and then sat down at Cafe du Marche, which is a hangout for locals.

There, we ordered a carafe of white wine and sat at a table facing the street.  It was a pleasant afternoon of just sipping wine and people watching.  The French really know how to hangout and relax.

Our last stop was a view of the Eiffel Tower from across the Seine at Jadins du Trocadero.  It’s right next to a Metro stop and is placed up at the top of a hill where you get a gorgeous view of the Eiffel Tower and Paris behind it.

We got there just around sunset so the sky was pink and later the lights on the tower came on.  So pretty!

For dinner, we found a place called Cafe Constant on rue Saint-Dominique in the 7th arrondissement.  It’s very small but filled with locals.  We were lucky enough to quickly snag a table for two in the sidewalk and it was perfect.

Our appetizer was a tartare of oysters, seabass and salmon seasoned with ginger and lemon.  Sounded a little scary at first but it was delicious!  My entree was “Patte Bleu” roast chicken with herby butter and pan fried new potatoes in tarragon.  I gotta say, the chicken was so much tastier than our chicken in the States.  Jes had langosteens wrapped in a thin pastry dough and then fried.  It was just as tasty.

For dessert, we had a classic homemade profiteroles with hot chocolate sauce.  It was so yummy and the chocolate was so glossy!  The prices were really reasonable at this cafe and their servers were super friendly.  This was definitely one of my favorite places on the trip.

Aaaah….and so our second day in Paris came to an end.  We rode Metro back to the hotel stuffed and exhausted.

Here are photos from this day.