Paris, France
Today was a much slower day for us. We started by sleeping in and then walking over to the Musee de l’Orangrie. The museum got its name because it was used as a green house for orange groves during the mid-1800s. It now houses a collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art, including Picasso, Renior, Utrillo and eight of Monet’s huge water lilly paintings.
The museum itself is fairly compact with two oval shaped rooms dedicated solely to the water lillies. I really never comprehended exactly how large these paintings are until seeing this full 360 degree angle. They are massive.
After the museum we did a little shopping (far away from our hotel) and then went back to the hotel to rest a while. Our hotel features the second best spa in the entire Hyatt hotel chain. We got a spa menu at checkin. The prices were laughably high and the services were laughably wide. You can have the in-house hair stylist (his fancy name and photo featuring bare feet and a man-bun are in the brochure) come to your room and wash and blow dry your hair for 120 euros!
There was mention of a sauna in the brochure, so I called to ask what the cost would be just to go in the sauna. Much to my surprise, I was told that the spa facilities are FREE to all guests and they only charge for things like massages or facials. I went down immediately for a tour.
OH! MY! There was not only a huge sauna, but also a steam room (with twinkle lights that looked like stars), the biggest jacuzzi tub I have ever seen, showers, tons of lounge furniture, fruit, teas, waters AND there was no one else in there!
Clearly, this is where I spent the rest of the afternoon, It was a mixed facility, so I made Josh come with. The staff was so attentive, they even asked if I needed help dressing (?!?)
I was basically forced out of the spa by Josh in order to utilize the Opera tickets he got us. The tickets were very cheap because this wasn’t really a full opera, but a collection of opera selections by Mozart performed by students at the Paris National Opera Academy (its basically like their thesis before graduation).
They were very good and I loved seeing all the beautiful dresses the ladies were wearing. It only lasted an hour – which is just long enough for someone who doesn’t speak French or Italian. Mostly, we were excited to tour the Palis Garnier Opera House, built in 1861. It is probably the most famous opera house in the world (and the setting for Phantom of the Opera).
After the opera we left the tourist area of Paris for some legitimately French, French food at La Rubies. No English subtext on the menu and surrounded by French people, this was a really unique experience. We struggled with the menu a little and some poor translation resulted in a few bad choices (my entree – what we call an appetizer – turned out to be a large bowl of raw tuna on some bamboo shoots). All in all, it was a great experience and I’m glad we ventured outside of our comfort zone to try it!
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