L’Orangerie, Cider tasting and evening cruise on the Seine

 May 8, 2025

I’ll start with the evening cruise on the Seine.  SOOO many people crowded on this boat.  We only got there a half hour early so didn’t get a rooftop seat but were outside and closer to the water level.  Today was VE Day - the day the Nazis surrendered in 1945 so it’s a public holiday which meant parades and people everywhere most notably in the places we had planned to visit.  Getting to the boat near the Eiffel Tower was crazy & folks’ spirits were high.  We had hoped for a cruise after dark but the last boat leaves at 9h30 and sunset was at 9h20 so it wasn’t until the return trip that everything lit up.  

Notre Dame - still under construction.

As we were about to pass under the Pont Neuf (aka the “new bridge” which at this point is also the oldest bridge) the lights came on and a cheer went up!

Best of all, the Tour Eiffel

The above pic was taken by a fellow traveler as our attempt failed rather miserably:

Prior to this we had a cider tasting with the group - always fun to have a bit of social time. Below is Canal Saint-Martin just outside the cider place, full of young Parisiens relaxing on a lovely evening. 

And prior to that we were at the Orangerie - another museum.  This one is known for Monet’s large panels which are very difficult to capture with an iPhone.  Suffice it to say, one is immersed in his work.

There were many other great artists there as well but this odd family portrait by Henri Rousseau really struck me:

As did this one by Soutine:

Soutine had an interesting take on landscapes- this village is all swirled together.

There were also works by Picasso, Matisse and my personal favorite, Modigliani.

And that’s enough for today’s art history lesson…

Tomorrow the David Hockney exhibit at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Au revoir for now.