It's not possible

Jenna and I watched 'Broken English' last night and had a relaxing evening. The movie has a French connection which is partially why we watched it while here. Sophie partied hard with her friends and came home pretty late, so we tried to be quiet when we got up early to hit the city.

We spent most of our day in Musée d'Orsay which is a beautiful space with amazing art. As soon as we walked in I noticed it looked like a train station. Sure enough it used to be one. It reminded me of Union Station in Chicago. So pretty. The impressionist exhibit was exquisite. Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Caillebotte & Cezanne all on one floor. They were represented on other floors too. Lots of Van Gogh, Seurat, and Gauguin throughout as well. There was a Monet that looked like the one Pierce Brosnan steals in 'The Thomas Crowne Affair' which was cool to see. I also loved his women with umbrellas and Les Dindons - a painting of turkeys which seemed like unique subject matter for Monet. There were two artists copying different paintings of Gustave Caillebotte which I enjoyed seeing. The fifth floor of the museum had great views of the city, and at the end of the impressionist exhibit were bean-bag couches to sit on. I sat there for quite a while because my hip has been hurting for the last two days. To the point where I would rush through some of the exhibits and then sit down and rest. I read, people watched, and sketched on a blank page of my novel while Jenna took her time enjoying the art and her audio-guide. One artist who I had never heard of but loved his work was Odilon Redon. I'll keep an eye out for him in the future.

We had our morning coffee in a cafe in the museum, and then lunch at the restaurant - which was fancy and delicious. After enjoying vin blanc, caesar salad, mushroom risotto, and finally the cafe gourmand (the espresso with tiny desserts), we continued our journey through the museum.

After the museum we wandered south to the Montparnasse neighborhood. We had dinner at a brasserie. I had a pesto pasta and we shared a cheese plate. Yum. We then met up with Sophie on the 56th floor of the Tour Montparnasse which is a high-rise with amazing views. We had to wait 40 minutes but eventually had champagne cocktails overlooking the city with the Eiffel tower in the distance. It was amazing.

Craving something sweet I bought some peanut m&ms and madeleines from the metro vending machine and we're currently enjoying some more champagne in Sophie's apartment. À ta santé!

P.S. 'It's not possible' is a direct translation used often here. Warren shared a story that he was on the train using his cell phone at his seat (which is a no-no) and a woman came up and said "it's not possible" to mean you can't do that. Too funny. So Jenna and I often have been joking that things are "not possible".