Musee di Rodin and Hong Kong

Our last (formal) holiday day in Paris began as they had all done; gently, slowly, and with a lovely breakfast in the company of our hosts. Tim, freshly woken from his night's sleep after travelling back to Paris from Copenhagen, had thought the day would pass quietly in La Celle St Cloud before leaving for the airport. Cate, however, had plans! Today, we were to visit the Musee di Rodin, as it was on her bucket list.

Varenne Metro station

So, we proceeded into Paris through the gracious help of Birgit driving us down to St Cloud to catch the train into Gare Paris St Lazare. We then caught the Metro Line 13 (down countless sets of stairs - no lifts in the Metro) to Varenne, which appears to be there exclusively to serve the Musee di Rodin.

The Hotel Biron (Musee di Rodin)

We surfaced outside Les Invalides only a short walk to the Musee; thankfully, because it had turned into another hot summer day in Paris. The museum, situated in the Hotel Biron, owned by Rodin in his later life and operated as a school of art by him (we believe from the things we read in the museum), is a magnificent venue for Rodin's art and genuinely in central Paris.

Cate and Tim wandered all through the museum, over both floors (another significant stair-climb) and were completely in awe of Rodin's oeuvre. Not only must Rodin have worked diligently every day of his life to create so much astonishing work in sculpture and painting, but he has the most extraordinary ability to represent human bodies in marble or bronze as if they are alive and moving; truly astonishing and captivating art.

The plaster model

The resulting bronze

Bronze of "The Lovers"

Another perfect bronze

Plaster models of the Burgers of Calais

The Gates of Hell

Plaster model of reclining figures

Marble model of someone and his children

"Hand of God" (front)

"Hand of God" (rear)

"Man and his vision"

A named woman

Three Ombres

The Burgers of Calais

The Hotel Biron, with grounds under renovation

It was a really hot day in Paris and quite still at the Hotel Biron when we had finished the tour. Tim had a quick walk through the gardens (a large part of which are undergoing renovation at the moment) to locate the cafe. It turned out that the cafe was further away from where Cate had nested than the exit, and we'd seen a Cafe that looked very interesting, very Parisian, on the way into the museum between the Metro and the main gate. We decided to optimise further energy expenditure and head to the Metro while stopping for lunch at the Cafe di Musee on the Boulevard Les Invalides.

Cate about to enjoy lunch
in a Parisian Cafe (unsuspecting)

An eclair - much more
appetising than this photo suggests!

Lunch was very pleasant. We were served by a very helpful and efficient Frenchman who, it turned out, was missing the same front tooth that Cate hs lost during her travels. He was very attentive and very pleasant; frankly, quite unlike the archetypical French waiter of fable.

A view of the Eiffel Tower Cate always enjoys from the train

After a leisurely lunch we navigated the public transport system again, back to La Celle St Cloud. Tim remembered that he'd promised to eat an eclair in Paris for his friend Tracy, so he acquired some eclairs for himself and Cate for the train ride back to St Cloud. That made the journey that much more pleasant!

On our return to Avenue Lily, we rested and had the pleaure of eating some of Lena's birthday cake on the terrace with Birgit and Eric. Eventually, our idyllic holiday in Paris had to come to an end. An Uber arrived to take us to the airport.

Eric and Birgit, on the terrace with Cate

Birgit and Cate on the terrace, with cake

The driver was very efficient (and had no English) and managed to drop us at the correct Terminal (not really a stretch) but at the correct door to check-in for our flight (more of good luck than goodd management, Tim suspects). Cate's experience of receiving "assistance" at Oslo airport has put us in the mind to take on that assistance in all the big airports, so we negotiated with Cathay for Cate to receive assistance at Hong Kong and they suggested that we access the "free wheelchairs" opposite "macdonought" ("McDonalds" with a charming French pronunciation!). There was some logistical pfaffing around over those arrangements, but eventually the 'wheelchair people' helped us out and we were led through security and immigration through the privileged lanes reserved for wheelchair-bound travellers and aircrew. Then, the long walk out to the furtherest gate, so the wheelchair was well worth it.

In the Regal Hotel bar

Both Cate and Tim managed to get some sleep on the flight from Paris to Hong Kong, so we've arrived not completely shattered. We've spent the afternoon in the lobby bar ("China Coast Bar + Grill") while Tim caught up some of this blog and Cate read (and dozed). Dinner in the same place was very pleasant and we've retired to our room after reflecting on the wonderful blessings of our two weeks in Europe - 90 hours in Paris.