first day in chartres

After a long travel day we flew into France and ended up in this small charming medieval town called Chartres. Wow. What a place. We could walk everywhere we wanted to go. That night after dinner we saw this amazing light show projected onto the cathedral. It was incredible.

paris ~ musee d' orsay

Gary and I went to Europe this summer, sans kids. It was so much fun and very relaxing.

Our first stop was Paris. Paris is a city of magic and creativity. I find the people there friendly, sophisticated, and classy. On our first full day we walked to the Musee d' Orsay in the light rain. We spent the entire day there looking at all of our favorite art. We ate at the museum cafe. The food we ordered was presented to us as works of art. I took tons of photos. We returned to the hotel fully filled with inspiration.

musee rodin, interior and lunch in a paris cafe afterwards

My favorite has to be the piece pictured in the second image.

musee rodin paris

In researching this great master artist, Francois Auguste Rene Rodin, I was struck by two facts. First, he was never accepted into Paris's top art school.  And secondly, he was sensitive about controversy surrounding his work, because he went against the norm.  But he refused to change his style.