Christmas Eve Morning

We visited the Musee D'Orsey Museum on the 23rd (our 20th Anniversary); it's a massive museum located right across the river from our hotel on the Left Bank.  A former Beaux Art train station, it was converted into its current form as a museum.  The building was almost lost to progress, but it was saved and the conversion was completed in 1986. This museum houses many notable works, including Vincent Van Gogh's self portrait along with a few other of his more famous pieces, several Rodin sculptures, and a really interesting collection of Art Nouveau furnishings.  If you like impressionism, this is must-see.

One of the (many) things nice about this trip has been the crowds (really, the lack of them).  There are plenty of people around, but no lines.  That said, Paris is NOT a place for parents with children in strollers, or anybody in a wheelchair. Accessibility hasn't been implemented here, and there are stairs everywhere.  Strangely, circular staircases are very common.

Last stop of the day was our anniversary dinner at Restaurant Guy Savoy.  One of the best restaurants in the world, with 3 Michelin Stars, we were pretty stoked about this.  We got all dressed up and entered this gorgeous classic building with a huge marble staircase (with red carpet, of course).  This led to the entrance to the restaurant, with lots of people greeting us as we walked down the hallway.  I noticed a man in Chef Whites standing in the hallway, he greeted us, and I asked him if he was the Chef.  His response:

"Yes.  I am the Chef!  I am Guy!  the owner, the manager... I am the man!"  A great moment - here's a pic of the guy (no I did not take his picture - this from Wikipedia):

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_de_Guy_Savoy.jpeg#/media/File:Portrait_de_Guy_Savoy.jpeg

The meal was extraordinary, as were the wines.  Jeff now has a new food obsession:  sweetbreads.

Here are a few pics from the day.

Notice the streetlight on the right?  Looks VERY SIMILAR to the streetlights the City of San Francisco specified for the Mission Bay redevelopment project.  In fact, it's clear and obvious to me that Paris was the inspiration and what drove the design behind the Mission Bay Master Plan.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.  Too bad Mission Bay didn't turn out anything at all like Paris, though.

My mother always had an expression for art that pushed boundaries:  "Musta had a disturbed childhood".... that came to mind when we walked past this sculpture at Musee D'Orsay.