First up today was one of the famous Museum's -  the Orangerie Museum, was originally a winter greenhouse for the orange trees of the Tuileries Garden. We also purchased a museum pass here which will get us into most of the monuments and museums around Paris.

The Museum faces the Place de la Concorde   and  was built in a classic architectural style, not your average looking greenhouse.

In 1918, Claude Monet wished to donate 2 of his "Les Nymphéas" (The Water Lilies) to the State, specifically in celebration of the end of World War I. He later gifted 8 grand works which measure 2 meters in height and a total length of 100 meters.

In the late 1950s, the Musee de l'Orangerie was given the art collections of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume. To accomodate this acquisition of over 100 new works of art, architect Olivier Lahalle added a second level above the oval rooms housing "Les Nymphéas". The Walter and Guillaume collections include many works by Picasso, Renoir, Matisse and Derain with several works by Utrillo, Cezanne and others.  Here are some pictures we took of the paintings.



Next stop the Eiffel Tower - we could see it in the distance it didn't look so tall. In fact with Braedon's hand on top of it, it looks very tiny....

We caught the train down to the tower and joined a deceptively long line to go up. The line snaked back and forth under the tower and after nearly an hour we made it to the entry which informed us that there was 30 minutes wait from that point.  One of us doesn't due ques and waiting in line all that well.  Unfortunately, the line veered off in another direction and it was still 30 more minutes till we arrived back at the ticket booth.  The wind had blown up and we experienced a few drops of rain in the final 40 minutes. An announcement above the ticket office said that the lifts from the 2nd level to the top had been temporarily stopped. They said that we might be able to go up later and could buy an additional ticket on the second level if the service to the top was reopened.  I thought it might be a blessing in disguise.  Not good with heights, but I was out of luck. we walked around the second level taking in the breath taking views of Paris in all directions capturing them with the camera. We noticed the lifts to the top were again operational and joined the que to go up, all the while Julie and Braedon reassuring me that it was safe. After a slight hiccup and having to go back and get the ticket upgrade after some dubious advice to the contrary, we got the lift to the top. Braedon and Julie enjoying the view on the way, me with my eyes fixed on the horizon, an old Navy trick.  We got out up at the top and this is the view from the top.


Next stop was Montematre only two stops away past from where we were staying. 
Montmartre is a hill which is 130 meters high,  a part of the Right Bank. Many artists apparantley had studios or worked around the community of Montmartre such aa Monet, Picasso and Van Gogh.

Very hilly and lots of quaint little shops of all description.  We stopped here and had pizza. A little train carries people around the town due to its steep hills

Braedon was so hungry he ate more pizza than he ever had before.  We were so tired afterwards, we caught a taxi back to our hotel.