Paris – Croissant Baking Class, Galeries Lafayette, and Musée d’Orsay

France Trip – Day 5

September 12, 2019

A bit groggy from the late night before, we were out the door at 8am for our croissant baking class in the Saint-Germaine neighborhood! This was one of my favorite things so far on this trip; it was a lot of fun, especially seeing my brother, dad, and husband get really into it, and our instructor, Emilie, was friendly, warm, and really knowledgeable, giving us tips and tricks along the way.

And of course the best part was getting to eat our delicious creations at the end, pipping hot right out of the oven! We got to walk away with about a dozen each of pain au chocolats and croissants – breakfast for days! I only captured video of us tasting the fruits of our labors, sorry no pictures.

After eating our work we had to walk some it off. My brother and Christina were headed to the Louvre for the afternoon, so we walked with them through the Jardins de Tuileries then on to check out the Galeries Lafayette. If shopping is not your thing, another reason to visit, other than the beauty of the building, is to check out the glass walkway on the third floor (take the glass elevator to get there). It was free, which was a pleasant surprise and kind of awesome (for those not fearful of heights of course)!

Yet another reason to visit the Galeries are the views from the rooftop. This was something I would not have known about but it was a Rick Steves recommendation. Thanks Rick, you did not let us down! There is a pricey cafe up there as well as an entire free sitting and viewing area where you can hang out.

After all the walking around, we were finally ready for a late lunch so we decided to check out one of the breweries recommended by our fellow traveler the night before. Paname Brewing Company was a very cool find – they had great food and a nice selection of craft beer. And they are apparently the only place in Paris where you can get a flight of beers.

After lunch we headed home to freshen up and then back out once more as we had tickets for the Musée d’Orsay. This is one of my favorite museums, not only for the art (although they have a large impressionist and post-impressionist collection, including Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, and Renoir to name a few) but because the venue itself is beautiful. The museum used to be a train station (built between 1898 and 1900) that was discontinued for railroad use in 1939 and finally converted into this art gallery in the 1970s. We walked the 5th floor to see the impressionists and then the ground floor (0) to view some of their sculptures.

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Since it was our last night in Paris, all I wanted to do was to stroll the streets of and enjoy the moment. So Chris and I walked back toward Saint-Germain and around 9pm we found a little restaurant to have dinner, Pizza Vesuvio. It was nothing special. It had been some time since I had some fresh greens so I chose a salad and Chris had a pizza. I have yet to have a good salad in France, they know how to make many delicious foods, but salad is not one.

Photo credit: Carina, Chris, and Carina’s dad