Day 8 - A Series of Closed Opportunities, Some Great Surprises, and a Very, Very Long Day

We wore Andi out yesterday with all the walking.  She opted to stay home and do some girl-things like get a manicure...etc.

We designed a pretty aggressive itinerary of four museums.  We headed out fresh and ready to take them all on.  The maritime museum was closed.  The museum of man which was included in our visitor pass, decided they would charge a $25 entrance fee so we passed, and the architectural museum did not open until eleven.  So we took some photos of the tower and headed over the aquarium as a last resort.

What a nice surprise.  It was fresh, smelled great, the tanks were clean and there was a huge selection of fish and marine life on display.  There was music playing and lots of kids.  It was a great way to spend some time waiting for the museum to open.

Although not on our original plan, the Mueum of Architecture was in the same location so at 11:00 AM when it opened we decided to give it a shot.  Wow!  350 full sized casts of the most important French architecture.  Started in 1905 by a visionary who wanted to preserve these beauties before man and nature took its toll.

Great views of the tower from the windows.

More models of now modern buildings on the upper floor along with reproductions of some famous domed murals that were subsequently destroyed in the bombing of the two world wars.

A model of an idea for a modular apartment building...1950.

Back out on the street we bought some sandwiches as a local market and had a picnic on the steps of the Eiffel Tower next to the bulls.

Our next adventure was the Paris Sewers.  They were closed too...so we headed over to the Grand Palace, the site of the 1900 world expo.  It was closed also.  We took pictures of the Alexander Bridge and the spotted another palace.  Why not???

The Petit Palace was another of Catherine de Medici's homes.  It is now a stunning art gallery and it was free to enter.

Amazing murals on the ceilings of the domes and halls.

Could not take my eyes off of the stunning street scene.

More Renoir.

Another monet.

Downstairs was a collection of more art and furniture.

An awesome ceramic frog.

Candy dishes.

A mesmerizing statue of a Chinese warrior.

The inner courtyard was also a work of art.

At the end of the day we walked up the Champs de Elysees and back home.