Thursday - Gray rain in Paris, Mora, Dehillerin and changes at the Orsay

Another gray day with drizzle to rain to drizzle to rain.

A leisurely morning for us both on rue General Renault. We had to wait for Darty, an appliance store chain in Paris, to deliver a new dryer, which they did promptly at a little before 9am. I willingly gave up the right to handle the transaction, thus allowing Susie to continue her French studies first hand.

The delivery went off without a hitch and shortly after the delivery guys left Susie bundled up, grabbed her umbrella and plunged into the vast grayness of Paris in early January. She was determined to make her routine pilgrimage to the Big Three icons of the culinary world: Mora for baking tools and equipment, Dehillerin for more equipment and Librarie Gourmand for the vast world of cookbooks in French.

As usual she proved successful in her search for just the right mold, the right book, the right baking thing, and before long returns with a bag of goodies (non-edible unfortunately) to be packed away for the long return to the US.

The two of us then head off into the "mizzle" (cross between mist and drizzle) to the Metro and to the Musee d'Orsay, a favorite stop for us; this trip is no exception.

After standing in line for 20 minutes ro so, carefully watching the rhino balancing herself on a nearby rock, we were let inside. Through security, we bought our tickets (discounted entry fee since we had visited the Moreau museum), checked our coats and scooted off to the wilds of impressionist art. Or so we thought. . . We were greeted by some rather unsettling changes (a couple of them good, mind you):

• The museum is presently undergoing major renovations and the entire upper level and half of the 2nd level are closed. Many of the paintings and some of the sculptures have been relocated to other parts of the museum.
• The room formerly dedicated to Manet is now predominately Cezanne (although "Olympia" is still in the same space).
• There is now a cafe on the 0 level, serving limited snacks and drinks.
• Photography is now prohibited in the museum. This appears to be strictly enforced.
• Multipass tickets are now available allowing access to the Orsay/Orangerie and Orsay/Gustave Moreau. 

After tracking down some of our favorite artists we settled into a a pair of seats in the new cafe, overlooking the man floor of the old train station, and had a bite to eat ("bite" being the operative word). Notwithstanding the major renovations underway the museum was packed -- probably little else to do on rainy Thursday afternoon in Paris I suppose.

After leaving the d'Orsay we walked down to the Solferino Metro stop and took the no. 12 to the no. 10 to the no. 5 at Gare Austerlitz, getting off (as usual) at Richard Lenoir.

A quick 5-minute walk in light drizzle to avenue Parmentier where we  popped into at a Chinese traiteur for takeout, then crossed the street to our apartment, fiddled with the digicode, opened the next door (locked) and up four flights, then unlocked our door and back in our apartment, where we opened a bottle of Prosecco and portioned out the food.

Another day in Paris, another night of eating Parisian food.

Wish you had been there,

Steve