Post-Group Paris

During the three days I've been alone in Paris, almost everything I did was revisiting what I didn't feel I had enough time with on the trip. On Sunday, Tanya and I went to the museum of photography and back to the Pompidou (I am so glad I did because there was so much I missed), and Tara met us at the Louvre.

Monday I was completely by myself. I  took the day to revisit some spots that I wanted to draw but didn't have the time with the group, like the Eiffel Tower and Moulin Rouge. I went back to Shakespeare and Company (may have gotten lost getting there), got a café creme at Café des Deux Moulins, and finished the rest of my gift shopping. On my journey back, I encountered a mob of people taking pictures of Brad Pitt, a prematurely closed metro line, at least a dozen police cars outside of the Grand Palais, and a stranger taking a picture of me. I don't know what was happening, but I found an open metro through expert wandering skills, only to be greeted by a man standing right outside of Crimée with no pants. It was a strange day.

Tuesday was more normal. I spent the day understanding the French-English language barrier at the post office, wandering around near the Opera, and revisiting Orsay for the third time (the guard let me in for free because I study art!). This time I looked at Decorative arts and went back to the Impressionism gallery. I'm glad I went back, because I looked at Odilion Redon's paintings. Prior to this Orsay visit, I didn't know who he was.
After closing Orsay, I had my last Parisian meal at Crêperie Beauboug and did some people and pigeon watching at the Pompidou.

Experiencing Paris by myself was totally different than with the group. I had time to relax, digest the trip and all of the information that went with it. Everything I did was on my own time and I didn't have to cater to anyone else's wants or needs. On the other hand, it was kind of terrifying. I wasn't with anyone who spoke any French and because I was by myself, people treated me differently. I felt lost and targeted a lot (I'm sure one informed the other). Luckily, there were a couple really friendly English speakers to help me out and the Knoff Mapguide did the rest.