Marvelous Monet

We continue to be blessed by beautiful blue skies on this trip. Fortified ourselves with another wonderful breakfast. Left the hotel late morning to visit the L'Orangerie - the museum housing works by Cézanne, Renoir, Gaugin and most notably Monet's Les Nympheas. It was quite a site to walk into the rooms where they are on display and see the enormous panels encircling the room from one end to the other. Prior to this we had a quick ride on the Paris equivalent of the London Eye ferris wheel which is located next to the museum. this provided us with another great perspective of the City. it is striking how they have limited development in the city in most areas to nothing more than about eight floors; this makes the notable landmarks stand out on the landscape.

After leaving the museum we walked up to the Opera Garnier only to find it closed due to "exceptional circumstances". Not sure what that meant. Wandered further to the Galleries Lafayette where we saw the amazing animated window displays and lights before a quick snack (gourmet cafe including wine on tap!). We walked home at sunset through the city to our hotel.

Chanced upon a fondue restaurant nearby for dinner and had yet another wonderful culinary experience involving cheese and beef fondue; the girls loved the experience. tonight we are organizing our bags for the trip tomorrow to Muscat.

More soon from the Middle East.