Turning 27 and the Fountain of Youth

Yes, I have broken Rule #2 of Womanhood by announcing my real age--Rule #1 is asking/stating body weight, #3 is asking/stating BMI--on a public forum. But I turned 27 in Pairs. Being in Paris on your birthday, as you well know, makes you age backwards. It's basically the fountain of youth! And if you don't believe me, ask the woman I saw on the Metro dressed to the nines in a blue fur coat. No matter how old you are, you are always young in Paris.

This is the formula for a perfect birthday, take notes so you can copy it for your next rotation around the sun!

Step One: Immerse Yourself in Timeless Art

If you wish to be timeless yourself, then you have to get a good idea of the kind of greatness that withstands the test of time. Seems as if the Musee D'Orsay is the perfect place to find that kind of great art!

The former train station is practically a work of art in it self. From the beautiful time piece in side..

A toast to you, Great Gilded Clock!

To the clocks that can be viewed from both sides. There is something so beautiful and brilliant about using these enormous time keepers as windows, I just love the feel of it.

Step Two: Enjoy the Art

Most of what you find in the upper galleries are the great masters who were ahead of their time, so much so that they were despised by the high brow art circles of their day. Today, nobody remembers those critics, but we all know Renoir. Who hasn't seen this painting at one point in their life?

Ah! Vincent Van Gogh! Just walking around the Van Gogh gallery with the song "Vincent" stuck in my head, trying not to be too emotional. What I might love best about Van Gogh is that his art is very literally 3 dimensional. Look at the thickness and texture of the paint:

This photo is for the Doctor Who fans, you know why.

Step Three: Treat Yo' Self.

Food is always an important part of a birthday, this year we opted for a lavish lunch at the Orsay Restaurant. I chose this place for it's beauty, but the food was good too.

Not pictured: The chubby cherubs painted on the ceiling.

 

Step Four: Enjoy the Great Outdoors (and more art)

The Rodin Museum in Paris is not to be missed, but the garden is the best part. You can see most of Rodin's greatest pieces in this beautiful setting while enjoying a sunny day.

Experience your own existential crisis with The Thinker

 

Marvel at the gory detail on the Gates of Hell

As I understand it, The Thinker was originally created as the figure of Dante--top center--on this enormous depiction of "The Inferno," but Rodin identified with the figure so much he created a large free standing version and renamed it. A copy of this pensive figure is actually the grave marker at Rodin's tomb. And speaking of tombs...

There is an excellent view of the dome of Les Invalides from Rodin's garden. beneath that dome is the largest monument to a dead guy I know of outside of Egypt.

Napoleon Bonaparte! Easily the most famous despot in history. I salute Napoleon style by sticking my hand inside my jacket. Legend has it that Napoleon did that to keep Josephine from getting at his wallet (I know, I'm hilarious), but I'm not sure I've ever seen a painting where he is actually doing this pose.

Step Five: Contemplate Your Own Mortality and Wonder if You Will Have Any Descendants Rich Enough to Bury You Like This. Decide That Would Be Too Wasteful And Move On.

 

Napoleon's great coffin is inside that enormous brown sarcophagus behind Lee. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that 15 people could RIP inside that thing comfortably. Seriously, it is absurdly huge. But then, so is the dome:

I've seen cathedrals dedicated to saints that were less splendid. Even though Napoleon destroyed the Republic that the French celebrate and value so greatly, they really loved the guy for making them militarily dominant in Europe. I sometimes wonder if he'd been able to leave Russia alone, what would the map of Europe look like today? Or if the Duke of Wellington had been on holiday during the Battle of Waterloo...

Step 6: Get Some Exercise

Walking around Paris is not for the faint of heart or faint of...leg. We averaged 8 miles a day, I think this was our biggest walking day of the trip at 8.9 miles. A big portion of that walk was because of this:

 

The Eiffel Tower is somehow even bigger than it looks. I have heard people say, "I was disappointed, I thought it'd be bigger." These people clearly took the elevator. We did not.

 

We were the only people doing this with a real camera and no selfie stick.

M. Eiffel's Tower is truly a modern marvel. She's over a 100 years old now (born 1895), but she definitely doesn't give off an air of being an artifact of days gone by. If anything, I was strongly reminded of an amusement park ride. Big crowds, long lines, over priced souvenirs and snacks; everyone waiting to go up really high on a skeletal steel structure. That's not to say I wasn't mind blown by the views or anything, just that I didn't expect the Eiffel Tower to feel so...current.

We are standing on the glass floor (terrifying) on the first level. Those little dark flecks are not wads of gum, they are humans on the ground. There was an ice staking rink set up on this level, a restaurant, brisk winds--to put it mildly--and more stairs to level 2. 

Lee and the restaurant behind him, still on level 1



I had to pose sheltered from the wind by this enormous pillar so I wouldn't look like Cousin It in the photo.

Step Seven: Have Your Breath Taken Away

Just looking at this photo makes me relive some of the vertigo I felt taking the photo. On level 2, 720 steps up, 400 feet above ground, this is how far we are from the top of the tower.





The views from down here were just fine. Incredible, in fact. After all the effort of climbing those stairs, we made sure to really take our time up there. The snacks were too expensive to bother with but the benches were a very welcome reprieve for our tired legs.

 

Of course we made a short video while we were up here. Again, I apologize for the poor quality. I don't currently have any video edited software as my laptop is sleeping the sleep of death, so just edit the badness out mentally.

To say that we were tired after all this living would be a gross understatement. I'd say we were fatigued in the extreme and agreed that we should take it easy the next day. We did a little extra wandering in search of dinner, almost too exhausted to be able to make a decision. But we happened upon a cozy little place with excellent quiche and cheese, which brings us to the final step to having a perfect birthday:

Step Eight: Splurge On Exotic Cheeses That Are So Strong They Literally Make Your Mouth Burn.

That's how our day ended, taste buds burned away by French cheese, and the bells of Notre Dame.

And that is the secret to a perfect birthday and eternal youth! Or, at least, enjoying life regardless of your age.