Paris: Day 5

Day 5 of my Parisian adventure was again full of highlights, too many to mention really. The factor that helped day 5 stand out from the previous days (and trips) was finally relying on the Parisian metro. I was able to fit in twice the amount of site seeing and in much better spirits as I wasn't totally wet, exhausted and cold all day!I began the day by staying close to home, on the Ile St. Louis. The small island really is a self sufficient city within the larger whole and full of significant and historical hotel particuliers.Afterwards, I was able to finally visit one of these stunning mansions, the Jacquemart-Andre Museum in the 17th. I'm only slightly embaressed to admit that I've wanted to visit this stunning hotel particulier since watching the movie Gigi, where it stands in as the family home of Gaston.

The rest of the day was spent wandering through the city, stopping into numerous churches (hearing the monks sing at the St Gervais St Protais was awe-inspiring), shopping at such yummy spots as Fauchon and along the Rue St Honore.During the evening, I had the pleasure of meeting noted architectural watercolorists Andrew Zega and Bernd Dams at their stylish apartment for drinks. I was interested to learn their art really is a dual effort: Bernd (with his German precision) does the drafting while the watercolor is applied by Andrew. Of course the bulk of the effort, the research, is done jointly as evidenced partly by their enviable book collection, seen in part in the first image.If you haven't already, be sure to check out their blog NOTED, linked from my bloglist on the sidebar. Also their website, architecturalwatercolors.com, is regularly updated. Look forward to future posts on all of these items!