Last Day

All too quickly it's the last full day in Paris, and we've arranged to meet the French students from the exchange college. We gather at the Bastille and chat a bit with a few of the people we met when they visited Edinburgh. After a bit of organising - herding cats, anyone - someone takes a group photo on the steps of the Opera building and then the group heads off. It slowly dwindles in size through the morning, like the attrition of an army in retreat. A few of us go into a photographic exhibition and afterwards we try to find the others - at times it seems that we, the visitors from Edinburgh have more idea of the local geography than the French students, but it's not surprising really, after all this has become 'our patch' over the last two weeks. In the end, after a fruitless search, P and I plus a number of the French students stop for a drink in a cafe on the Rue de Rivoli. We all sat outside and struggled to make ourselves understood as best we could. After we'd settled up we said our goodbyes and headed in different directions. I crossed the river, passed Notre Dame one more time and over the Pont Neuf, where I bumped into S heading the other way. Still accidentally meeting one of the thirty or so people I know in the city of millions! Both hurrying to fit things in and feeling the pressure of time running out, we didn't stop for long and headed in opposite directions. For me, a visit to the Musee D'Orsay. Sadly Whistler's Mother - a painting I'd written about in a college essay on the effect of reproduction on the power of the original work of art - was on tour, and so sadly I couldn't put the theory to the test. Of course there were other famous originals to see, and the building itself is amazing. And as other people in the group had said, a manageable size for a few hours visit, unlike the vastness of the Louvre - something I'll have to save for another time.
A bit of gift shopping, and a targetted visit to Galeries Lafayette before arranging to meet A on the Place de la Concorde. We visited the Jeu de Paume and looked at the photographic exhibitions. The street photography of Lisette Model - perhaps that was something we should have come to see at the beginning of the trip? Other exhibitions, with more holocaust reminders, and several installations including a pair of films facing each other - a woman listening to her own answers to a series of questions about her life in Sweden. All interesting stuff, to stretch and excite the brain.
We headed out into the early evening sun and were just considering what to do next, when who should walk by but P! We decided to walk by the river and then back to the Champs Elysee. Seeing the big flag we decided we'd walk up to the Arc de Triomphe before getting the metro back to the Bastille. Which is when this picture was taken, before we walked up one of the most famous streets in the world.
A said she thought it was more of a run, but P and I must just walk quickly !!