Paris sites for travelers who have already been to an art museum

Well, we’re back in Paris! Here’s what I’ve chosen for my first offering. It’s Photographer Ron, back in action with the camera. I just showed this to him and he said It’s a good picture! I really can only conclude that the only obligation Ron feels as he’s taking a picture is to push his finger down onto the shutter button and then wash his hands of the whole matter.

I found my other old friend, Airport Ron, at Sea-Tac earlier. First, as I waited in a check-in line of exactly two people, Ron wandered off to look for a shorter(!!) line, found a group of about 50 people waiting to check in and decided that was the line for him. Shortly thereafter, he swore to me that he would stand right outside the bathroom while I ran in (first mention of toilets for the trip!), and of course he was nowhere to be found when I came out. I truly believe some sort of brain mis-circuit/wiring malfunction occurs whenever he’s holding a boarding pass.

We’ve got a week on our own before I reveal my historical/wine/French language ignorance/limitations to my Road Scholar classmates and we’re starting with four days in Paris. While I know many of you would suggest the Louvre or the D’Orsay, we started out at the Paris Police Museum, which is located on the third floor of a police precinct near our hotel and focuses on the history of policing and crime in the city. My other opening day activity was to seek out and acquire a heating pad.

I did not reveal this in my first post to you all, but we are soon meeting up with two brave travelers, my sister Sam and our honorary third sister, Kris. I talked them into coming on a fabulous and glamorous trip around France and now they are reading that the first two activities are tracking the history of murder in Paris and acquiring some medical equipment for back pain and I just want to apologize to you both at the outset.

The Paris Police Museum (Musee de la prefecture de police, if you’re looking to plug it into your next Paris itinerary) exists hidden away on the third floor of a large working police station in the 5th Arr. It took us at least 20 minutes to find the building even as we sat on a curb with a direct visual of the station. My GPS said we were 40 meters away and yet I could not sort out where it was. It pains me to admit this – given the camera shortcomings and airport shortcomings – but it was Ron who finally spied an 8×11 piece of copy paper, taped to the exterior of the police station, which said Musee.

Upon approach, a police officer came out and questioned us. He had no idea why we were there. I showed him my reservation to view the museum and we pointed at the copy paper, way off in the distance, all the while, using our technically proficient French mastery of the word Musee, Musee, Musee. Finally, he searched our bags, patted us down and let us in, where we joined a waiting room of people waiting to…I don’t know…identify perpetrators in a line up? Hoards of uniformed and undercover offices strode through and it seemed a fine way to spend our first afternoon in Paris. Soon, our very own police escort appeared and took us up the elevator.

Although the Musee claims to cover the history in policing in Paris from the 16th century onward, it was mostly in French. Using my DuoLingo skills, I was able to correctly identify an exhibit about police dogs (Chien!) and then I got to draw Ron’s attention to this ingenious inmate storage device.

Ron and I ended our first day in Paris doing something that’s long been on my list: an evening cruise down the Seine, which is a great treat for me as I hobble around the city. Any chance to sit is a big YES for me.

• 

• 

• 

Tomorrow, we venture to L’Orangerie, a museum with art in it. I will share my thoughts and observations with you soon.