Orsay, Rue Cler, Effiel Tower, Champs Elysses, Arc de Triomphe

The weather has only been getting warmer and warmer, and today was actually rather hot. On day five, we began at the Musee D’Orsay, which has mainly impressionist art. The artists included Monet, Picasso, Degas, Signac, and some Van Gogh. I really like this museum because most of the art was more recent, and it was somewhat refreshing since most of the art in the previous museums is very religiously-influenced and pretty ancient. They also had a lot of really large paintings, which is always impressive. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in The Orsay, however.

                One of the artists that I like the most in this museum, that I hadn’t really seen much of before, was Signac. His paintings were all really bright and the colors blended nicely together. I loved his technique most of all because it isn’t exactly pointalism, but it works in the same way. He makes a lot of small, uniform, horizontal strokes arranged perfectly to make the picture. It’s really cool because the individual parts all come together with one common purpose. I also really like Degas because he paints a lot of ballerinas and really captures the beauty of a dancer.

                After leaving, we walked along the Seine to meet Mr. Greenlee for lunch on the Rue Cler. Then, we began walking toward the famous Eiffel Tower. It was so much larger than I ever thought it would be, and so much prettier than I thought it could be. Typically, a huge mass of metal isn’t that appealing, but it is adorned with scroll work and other details that just make it really impressive. We took pictures, laughed at the scam artists mulling around, and laid in the grass for a while.

                Later, a group of us walked across the street and got a wonderful few of the Eiffel tower from farther up. Then, we took the metro to the famous Champs Elysses where we saw the Arc de Triomphe (also much larger than I imagined) and even walked under it. The Champs Elysses is a really expensive district and had stores such as Cartier, Louis Vuitton, and Merceds Benz. It was exciting to walk down the street and pretend that we belonged among the rich Parisians.