Birthday mooching

We wandered along the left bank towards the Musee D'Orsay and decided we didn't want to queue for a gallery we had been to before, so decided to walk on and check opening times for L'Orangerie. A mild annoyance was invoked when we found our Rough Guide (supposedly recently updated) was completely wrong regarding opening times, so it was closed on a Tuesday - we were going to have to leave it for our last morning.

By this time though, the sun was out and we walked on to the Place de la Concorde and decided to get a coffee in the Petit Palais (also the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris‎) as it was free and we could have little browse. The coffee was ok and served in an overdesigned "disposable" cup.

The receptacle holding the beverage was suspended from a plastic spike which was integral part of the rectangular saucer. Daft. What is the matter with a nice bit of china or pottery? After a bit of sneering at photographic portraits of beautiful people (famous and therefore the only people who count and a few token "tribes" people) by some famous photographer we tottered back across the Place de la concorde. As the sun had come out we found a little bit of lunch which was eaten outside in the Tuileries Gardens, which I was pleased about as we like to have a bit of a picnic there when we visit Paris but weren't holding out for it as it was winter. Though it was slightly nippy it was still pleasant. We then decided to have a look at a small exhibition being held at the Ensba (Ecole National Superieure Des Beaux-Arts) which would be interesting for both of us, as it incorporated drawing (for me) and anatomy (for him): "Figures du corps - Une leçon d’anatomie aux Beaux-arts". It was very interesting even though it was a little grisly in places (I forgot that the early artist and early surgeons would have had similar interests).

A little bit of birthday cake was found and consumed:

We had a little rest before venturing out to make a little evening trip up the Eiffel tower.

Whilst we were there it went all sparkly:

then we continued to admire the city of lights:

As well as having a play with the self timer: