For my “Day 1” adventures in Paris, please check my previous post.

Day 2 in Paris was dedicated to a visit to Palais Royal courtyard for all things stripes, shopping on Rue Saint Honore, walking, and a visit to the Musee d’Orsay. But first, here a few photos from my early morning walk around the hotel.

Palais Royal

Ever since I saw a few blogs post about the Le Palais Royal and the vertical stripe cylinders, I wanted to wear my striped Anthropologie skirt and take pictures with it. Thank goodness my friend and coworker, Joe, was with me to take the pictures for me. Unfortunately, half the courtyard was closed off due to construction. So I wasn’t able to take the photos I had planned. Also, the photos were overexposed due to the bad settings I set on my camera. So I had to use Lightroom 4 to do some editing.

Shopping on Rue Saint Honore

After the Palais Royal, we strolled down Rue Saint Honore, did some shopping, and visited the Goyard store. I found a really nice tote, which was the perfect size for me there.  And…it was only available at the Paris store. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy the tote since it needed to personalized and wouldn’t be ready until after I left Paris. If I wanted the tote shipped to me, there was a 250 euro shipping fee. And it was the shipping fee that changed my mind.

The Original Chanel Boutique

Somehow we “stumbled: upon the Chanel Boutique at 31, Rue Cambon (the original Chanel boutique). Of course, I needed to take some photos. Because le soldes was going on, the boutique was a complete madhouse. It wasn’t nice and quiet as I remembered it a few years ago. There were signs in boutiques noting that handbags were not “on sale.” The only things that were on sale were shoes. I guess the amount of people in the store turned me off to buying or even wanting to look at anything.

We were a bit famished after hours of walking and shopping so we decided to have a late lunch at the Musee d’Orsay. I’ve always wanted to see the big clocks inside and luckily we got seats in the cafe, right in front of the clock. Also, I found another clock at the museum that had much better views and light. Below are a few of the pictures on our walk.

Musee d’Orsay

Finally, we reached Musee d’Orsay. We ran up five flights of stars to find the cafe and we made it on time! We were seated right near the clock and, of course, I made Joe take a few shots. I was so hungry that I forgot to take pictures of my food. But I highly recommend this cafe. The food is a bit pricey but the view of the clock makes it well worth it.

After we were done with or meal, we strolled around the museum and found the other clock. I loved taking photos of people’s silhouettes in front of it. Also, the clock has great views of Paris.

Below are pictures of our walk back to the hotel. Our feet were killing us and we weren’t able to find a cab. It was the longest walk back. Note to self, wear more comfortable shoes in Paris. But what I realized from the long walks back, is that the carousels are so pretty and actually in operation in mid January. I kept thinking about how much Luke would love being on the many carousels.