Parting is sweet sorrow...

Well, our time has come to kiss our new friend Paris goodbye, for now. We leave in the very early a.m. back home, and as I walked Monmarte one last time tonight, I was surprised at how much I fell in love with Paris in such as short time--it was, in true form to this Romance capital, "love at first sight."

As for our last day here--it was fun, and relaxed, and more leisurely. We headed out to the Musee de Orsay at around lunch time, after sleeping in and having some eggs, croissant and juice. We had an easy journey there, and, Murphy's Law, it was closed Mondays. Go figure...

Although I was disappointed, I was determined, and we realized that the Grand Palais had a Renoir exhibition going on, so off we went. After waiting online for about an hour, we got and were not disappointed. The show was lovely, with many of Renoir's lesser known paintings on exhibition, as well as a few compatriot Post-Impressionists such as Bonnard, Matisse, Gaugin, and even a Picasso. Nice.

After we finished up, we strolled along Champ Elysees, and hit up the Christmas festival...they had wonderful stands, and we were amazed by the different foods for sale, and we couldn't resist--they had a salmon stand--open fire with long, fresh fillets of salmon, rubbed with sea salt and spices, and they would just cut it off the roasting fillet, and put it into a baguette, with a nice white sauce on it. It was amazing! We also tried a fresh duck sandwich--incredible, and had tastes of a REAL hot dog from the German stand--delicious, and a sample of a chocolate crepe. We were stuffed to bursting at this point, and still the food stands were unending--caviar and vodka tastings, dry goods, huge varieties of wines and cheeses, Spanish sausage...we were in complete amazement. No popcorn or anything you'd expect at an American fair, and this both delighted and intrigued us.

We also explored the Basilica Sacre Coer, which was so beautiful, it actually topped Notre Dame, IMHO. The architecture, sculptures, and complete ceiling murals were incredible, not to mention you walk out and have the entire of Paris below you..

We loved the L'Eglise de Madeleine, which from the outside, looks like a massive courthouse, but is a Church...when you get inside, it is breathtaking in it's Rococco decor and lavish statues. The alterpiece statue of Christ's ascension and angel escorts is absolutely regal.

We got back to the flat, and after our gastronomic insanity of the afternoon, were both feeling it, so we decided the best thing to do is to sip a little sparkling water and then walk it off...worked like a charm!

We got in rather early, and spent the night making calls, packing, arranging our taxi departure, etc., and catching up on business--code: getting ready to head back to reality...I was feeling rather forlorn about it, but I noticed that I sold a painting online today, while here in Paris--so I take that as a good omen! Paris is asking me to come back and work and expand here...and so, we will! We've started laying tracks for Parisienne representation, Parisienne weblinks, etc...so, we'll see this beautiful lady of a city again very soon. Au revoir!