Museum of Letters and Manuscripts

Did a little better last night and think the sore throat may finally be defeated. We ate breakfast and started walking to the Musée Rodin. As soon as we got to rue de Bac and blvd. St. Germain, we noticed a very heavy police presence. We continued on rue de Bac and turned on rue de Varenne seeing more and more police. There are government offices and the Vice President’s residence along here so some of it was expected, but it extended way past any of that and you would have thought the Rodin and Invalides were fortresses. There are so many people in Paris from the 70th anniversary of D-Day memorials that they seem to have increased security all over the city, but particularly around here. We feel very safe . . .

We got to the Rodin and there was a long line. Surprise! We've never had a line at the Rodin before. We decided to use the garden entrance by the tea room so set off down blvd. des Invalides. Another surprise. The garden entrance is gone, replaced by a very strong, forbidding gate. They are doing renovations at the Rodin Museum so have stored all their equipment back here. At that point we decided to walk on over to Pain et Chocolat for lunch and did. When we were here with the girls, we became regulars and they even opened early for us on our last day so we could get breakfast before leaving for the airport.

Big changes at Pain et Chocolat too. Mme. and M. have been replaced by a personable young couple . . . perhaps their children? They no longer have a menu du jour but had a good selection of salads, pastas and quiches. We chose the standard quiche and it was perfect, tender crust, excellent flavor and served with the best salad we’ve had so far. Instead of sliced baguette, you get a selection of their fresh-baked rolls. Perfect. We chose our desserts from their display case. I got a pear and chocolate tart and Ed got a royal praline chocolate that was heavenly. I finished with coffee and it was a great experience. There may be changes but the food is excellent . . . and the bathroom may be the cleanest in France. Good lunch choice! (According to an Internet search, this restaurant is now closed. A shame; it was so good and so friendly. We'll call to check; I saved their number. +33 (0)1 4550-1427 It would be nice to discover they just moved a few blocks.)

We returned to the Rodin by way of an Invalides mobbed with tour groups. The line at Rodin was even longer so we left. We've been there several times before and will be there again so why make someone else wait that much longer in line. We decided to retrace our steps back to blvd. St. Germain and visit the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts and arrived to find no line to a nearly empty museum. Hooray! We paid for the special exhibit and were glad we did.

We also found a bust of Antoine Saint-Exupéry in a lovely square overlooking Invalides. We're fans of The Little Prince so that was fun.

Loy and Joseph Roux, brothers, were in WWI and had small Kodak cameras. Photography had to be authorized and they were not authorized but they were discrete and got amazing photos of the war. It had a profound affect on them and both brothers became priests. The photos were the special exhibit and it was very well done. It was of particular interest because my maternal grandfather was sent to France in World War I. Although he would never talk about it, I've always been aware of it so the exhibit held extra interest for me. [Museum of Letters and Manuscripts (Musée des Lettres et Manuscrits), 222 Boulevard Saint-Germain 75007 Paris; tel: +33 (0)1 4222-4848; [Unfortunately, this museum has closed.]

We spent the rest of our time in the (free) permanent collection downstairs and it is fascinating. There are letters from all sorts of famous people throughout history like Marcel Proust, Victor Hugo, George Sand, Napoléon I, Saint-Exupery, General Eisenhower, General de Gaulle, Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison; original music manuscripts of famous composers such as Bach, Mozart, Debussy and Beethoven; artists like Matisse, Delacroix, Van Gogh and Renoir which includes one tiny painting; first edition books, paintings and book illustrations. Great little museum.

Walked home, left camera and hats and went to our little restaurant, L’Empire, for tea (me) and limonade. Madame waved as we walked in. Afterwards, we did our shopping and are in for the night.