By the second Saturday in Paris, Blue Eyes, The Peacemaker and I were completely over our jet lag. Unfortunately, the newcomers were just beginning to battle it. We decided to let the “kids” sleep in and we headed to Rose Bakery in the Marais for brunch. We had read really great things about this British bakery/restaurant/tea shop and we were not disappointed. After eating, we picked up lots of goodies including fresh quiche, salads, sandwiches, and pastries, and headed back to the apartment to set out brunch for the kids.

Since it was Shabbat in the Marais, we saw lots of families heading to synagogue.

Below: Rose Bakery, 30 Rue DeBelleyme

Above: they had an amazing selection of fresh pressed juice combinations.

Below: and of course, they had a delicious eggs benedict on brioche with sautéed greens

After everyone had had their fill of brunch, we headed out as a group to view some sights. We had intended to visit the Paris Museum of Modern Art, but somehow we ended up at an extravagant Cartier jewelry exhibit in a different wing of the museum:

From Palais de Tokyo, we headed to the Eiffel Tower, which was in full view of the museum and a natural next stop.

We did not end up going to the top on this trip.

From the Eiffel Tower, we headed to dinner at a Japanese Restaurant in the Montmartre area. The restaurant, Guilo Guilo was amazing and included a multi course prix fixe menu. The food is traditional Kaiseki (the dishes are strictly seasonal and emphasize colors, presentation, and texture in a simple and beautiful presentation) and we were excited to see that they also have a restaurant in Kyoto. From the Internet reviews, we felt pretty confident our son had made an excellent dinner choice. Most of the staff only spoke French or Japanese, so Japanese it was!!! By this point in the trip, we had been eating lots and lots of wonderful French food including steak frites, French baguette, especially sandwiches, quiche, roast duck, seafood doused in butter, macarons and other delicious Parisian pastries, we’d even had steak tartare, pot-au-feu, and foie gras on a burger! Indulging in a little traditional, waist-line friendly, Japanese cuisine was welcomed.

On Sunday, we ended up walking straight to what would turn out to be my favorite museum, definitely of the trip, and possibly my favorite museum ever. I guess time will tell. The Musee d’Orsay had the most amazing collection of Impressionist paintings, I could have spent days there.

Above: Exterior of Musee d’Orsay

Below: One of the big clocks inside the museum (this one in the cafe) with Sacre Coeur in the distance

Above: I fell in love with so many of the paintings. I took a picture of this Monet before a guard freaked out and yelled at me in French to stop taking photos.

Above: Full exterior of the museum (which used to be a train station) from the Seine.

Above: Fountain at Tuileries Garden (near the Louvre)

Below: A corner of the Louvre Museum

Although we did end up near the Louvre on Sunday, we decided to save it for another day as it was getting late. Instead, we walked back to the Marais district and stopped in at a little bistro near our apartment and feasted on pate with baguette, seared duck breast with gratin dauphinoise, and steak frites. The adults ended the night early as we were heading off to London the next morning. The kids ventured off to a Paris nightclub where I can only assume they had a blast.