Paris day 3

Day 3. Rain,rain and rain with wind in the morning. The day started with rain and wind and we had outside plans that had to be changed. We started at the Arc de Triomphe and then went to the Orsay Museum. It turned out to be a great day!

Below, a view from underneath the Arc.

The eternal flame burning for all French soldiers that lost their lives in battle.

A view from the top.A view of the Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe.

On our way to the Orsay we stopped by a cafe and had the best cup of hot chocolate in the world! One of the great things to do in Paris is to just stop by a cafe and try what they have. I took this shot for Yancy. If you have ever read his blog you will recognize this type of photo.Inside view of the Orsay. It was originally built as a train station and has this wonderful center section where the passenger trains ran at one time.An artist working inside the Orsay.Christy taking her time checking out the art.Cindy checking out the map of the Orsay.Part of the collection at the Orsay is a large van Gogh collection. As was the case with the Mona Lisa the van Gogh paintings are absolutely stunning in person. You just can't capture the color and brush strokes with a camera. This is one of my favorites as it reminds me of Minnesota farming. Title: Midday.This was Christy's favorite, a Monet. The colors were incredible. My favorite van Gogh paintings are the self-portraits. The one below is an early self-portrait.Here is the second self-portrait. Christy pointed out the swirling blue background......interesting.Finally his great religious piece The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise. The Orsay also had a temporary display of Art Deco objects including a great collection of furniture.

A super cool screen that Christy wanted to take home.We ended the day on the Champs-Elysees and caught this great photo of some French Military cadets marching to the Arc de Triomphe to light the eternal flame at 6:30pm. A bit of advice, in my view you can skip the Champ-Elysees, it was not much of a downtown district compared to Montmartre or the Left Bank.