PARIS!

Next stop, thinking, at the Rodin Museum, beneath the shadow of the dome of Napoleon’s tomb.

The museum itself is closed for renovations which I knew before going there, but the wonderful as in full-of-wonders garden was open.

This scene is repeated in many of the garden locations, the long vista facing a grand mansion.

…yikes!

The entire surface of the doors, above, and to the sides of the doors is covered in these gruesome images of a hellish eternity for the unsaved. Meant to terrify, if these gates don’t get you then I just don’t know what will.

The Gates of HELL…

Rodin has this thing about turning heads to the side it seemed to me anyway. There were a lot of long exposed necks.

This is the menu of the Plat de Jour.

September 24

We didn’t get out today until it was time for lunch so we went directly to Les’s top pick, Metropolitan, as it was exactly in the neighborhood we would be visiting today on the Right Bank.

I had it, and it was wonderful – a potato and fish cake that was both subtle and hearty.

We shared this dessert of honey glazed figs, chocolate mousse, gorgeous ice cream, and some decorations.

Following our visits to Musee Carnavalet and Musee Picasso we had a little tea break before heading home. That’s my one-quarter liter of house red wine in the little green pitcher that I so enjoy of an afternoon.

The place was just a drop-by neighborhood bistro but oh yes that apple tart was splendid. The sugar was caramelized right up to the exact point where one more second and it would have been burned. But it wasn’t burned, it was perfect.

The waiter/manager/owner was so funny as he described what was available. This was the most delicious he said. He put on his best John Wayne and called this Ammmurican Aaaple Piiii. Not what we were expecting, which is just as well!

Next stop, Musee Carnavalet. It’s very big, it tells the story of Paris in art and artifacts, but I didn’t care. I came here because they have a recreation of Marcel Proust’s bedroom.

He sat in a room like this, or so they say, writing the seven volumes of In Search of Lost Time (I do prefer the old title of Remembrance of Things Past) that I have been reading off and on for two years. Maybe I’ll finish in the third year.

Maybe it will take me as long to read it as it took him to write it.

They had wonderful Art Nouveau objects, even this entire jewelry shop that was so gorgeous inside.

I liked it A Lot. The rooms were organized in a way by topic and this room was about his first wife Olga. You can see what he thought of her when then met and at the end of their relationship.

Actually that’s not the exact painting of the end that was in the room. I was sure I’d get a better picture from the internet but my googling skills have failed me and I can’t find it!

One of the splendid gardens among the many at the Musee Picasso.

Then we were off to the Musee Picasso.

from Lonely Planet: “One of Paris’ most beloved art collections reopened its doors after a massive renovation and much controversy in late 2014. Housed in the stunning, mid-17th-century Hôtel Salé, the Musée Picasso woos art lovers with 5000 drawings, engravings, paintings, ceramic works and sculptures by the grand maître Pablo Picasso (1881–1973).

“The extraordinary collection was donated to the French government by the artist’s heirs in lieu of paying inheritance tax.”

We stopped often to look at food. Food food food, it’s Muriel’s thing. Fresh fruits and vegetables, windows packed with pastry delights, bread, cheese, various meats, chocolate of course, and more.

I don’t take pictures of food much but starting tomorrow I’ll give it a go because that’s all I hear from back home ‘Eiffel Tower blah blah blah where are pictures of the food!

September 23

Good morning! a view out the living-room window.

We’ve been having 12 hours of daylight but winters are a whole other ball of wax: sunrise about 8:30 and sunset about 5:00 with 8 1/2 hours of daylight which makes for a very short day and a lot of grumpy Parisians.

Our stroll took us into the Eiffel Tower neighborhood where this fine structure peeks her pretty head into many open spaces.

Muriel had arranged for a walking tour guide and here we are, Muriel, Alain, and me. It was Fun!

They were making sugar-bomb pastries in here.

A stroll through the neighborhood of some historic and very OOOO-LA-LA Art Nouveau buildings.

We also looked at many Haussmann-era buildings and those that came before and after. It’s these though that make you stop and look.

The gate from the above picture, with views of the Eiffel Tower.

A big WOW on this guy.

Muriel and Alain went off in another direction because…

…Check it out! Oh goodie goodie, it’s the Sewer Tour! I’ve been wanting to see what the Sewer Tour was all about even before I got here.

For less than 5 euros you get a little map and you set off on your own for a stroll through a touristified but very much in action section of the Paris sewer system.

They say you might see a rat….but this was the best I did rat-wise.

Really, it’s the sewer in the ‘brown slurry of poop’ kind of way.

Every once in a great while after heavy rains the sewers can flood up to the level of the walkways and then oooow-eeeee, you do Not want to be there.

If you happen to be in the Eiffel Tower area with a spare hour, here’s something to look at!

This place is called The American Church in Paris. I happened to walk by so I thought to go in. I ended up feeling a little embarrassed for my country. Here’s my dialog with the American at the desk:

ME: Bonjour! Good morning! may I ask, what denomination is this church?
she: We are interdenominational. Everyone is welcome!
ME: Cool, I’d like to see the church.
she: I’m sorry you can’t see the church.
ME: But every church in Paris is open.
She: We’re Americans here.
ME: That’s doesn’t sound very welcoming.

The public can visit the church a total of 21 hours in the entire month of September.

I still haven’t taken the big step to try the rent-a-bike system and it’s looking less and less likely that I will.

Just an example…I’m saving you thousands more.

September 22

Muriel found this place from an article in the NY Times. Wow, what a place it is.

There were so many ‘No Photos!’ “Really, WE MEAN IT Don’t
Even THINK About It NO PHOTOS!’.

So I snagged all these from the internet.

There had been a recent fire and many of these objects were donated back to the shop.

I thought maybe I was going to write about this place because it’s so interesting. It’s also long. You can google deyrolle paris nytimes for an up-to-date article.

Also, to set the stage, this from wiki: “Deyrolle is a reference in the field of taxidermy. We can find birds, beasts and mammals from all over the world. At Deyrolle, with only a few exceptions, no animal was killed to be mounted: the non-domestic species come from zoos, parks, where they died of old age or illness. They are traceable, and protected species are held and delivered in accordance with the Washington Convention (CITES).”

The Prime Minister of France lives here. I know that because one of the four heavily armed guards told me. I had to go back a second time to confirm.

Imagine my surprise when those four guys and their sub-machine guns let me take this picture after a car drove in and the Americans won’t even let you into their church.

The Museum of the Army was interesting actually, well organized, well produced, and seemingly pretty thorough.

I knew France had a huge colonial presence but the graphic of their place in Africa showed a much bigger presence than I remembered.

I was on a walk to Invalides.

from Wiki: “Les Invalides, officially known as L’Hôtel national des Invalides, or also as L’Hôtel des Invalides, is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building’s original purpose.

“The buildings house the Musée de l’Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d’Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France’s war heroes, most notably Napoleon Bonaparte.”

Under the dome…

…Napoleon’s Tomb!

I wanted to see Napoleon’s Tomb. Even after having done it I’m not entirely sure why. But there it is, Napoleon’s Tomb.

Internet picture from between the church and the museum, I didn’t like any of my pictures of this well-known fountain so I snagged this one as a memory jogger.

(internet pic)

We had dinner at the fish place and this waiter was as charming and funny and professional as ever could be. He called the water ‘Chateau-la-pompe’ which I loved.

September 20

Muriel! Welcome to PARIS. And what’s the first thing we do? Food!

We strolled around the neighborhood, stopping off at the near-by church, Église de Saint Germain des Prés, the oldest standing church in Paris.

This place might contain the tomb of René Descartes – it’s somewhere in this church. I like their modern-art interpretation of the stations of the cross.

The Musée national Eugène Delacroix, a block from the house, and just behind me is the Cream Puff Palace where all they make are cream puffs. I will be trying those soon.

I’ve got other pictures of this church from week 1 and 2. I wonder if I should try to combine all this in geographic-coherency…we’ll see.

September 21

I wanted to go to the Pompidou today and Muriel was going to look at gardens.

On my way I saw this church and wandered over in that direction to find…

…these lovely ladies.

There was a show going on called ‘Les 3 Jean’ featuring memorabilia from the work of Jeans Delannoy, Marais, and Gabin all very well know in French cinema – two actors and a director.

The woman on your left is the niece of Jean Delannoy and a celebrity herself to these two volunteers. The three of them most charmingly urged me to come to the town of Bueil on Saturday to see the full collection of Jean Delannoy’s career. I would have gone too except that I’ve got the Street Art tour on Saturday.

Thanks ladies!

Entrance of the Bourse de Commerce. I could take pictures of handsome buildings all day long.

But from the top you can see the Eiffel Tower!

Looking down onto the Pompidou’s plaza.

This is the Musée National d’Art Moderne, my favorite, Modern Art.

From the NY Times: “Center Pompidou’s bold “exoskeletal” architecture was thought to clash violently with the old houses surrounding it upon its opening in 1977.

“The public considered the cultural center’s aggressive industrialist style an attack on Paris’s historic fabric; one Parisienne, upon discovering that Richard Rogers was one of its architects (along with Renzo Piano), hit him on the head with her umbrella.”

nytimes.

I picked a few objects to show, ones I liked and was surprised by and had never seen before and are from some of my Name Brand artists.

Matisse – they had rooms and rooms of Matisse works.

I love this Picasso! It’s ‘Femme aux Pigeons’. Can you tell how much he likes this woman.

They would have a dozen pictures up by many but not thousands of artists, and it seemed only the heavy hitters.

This is Kandinsky’s ‘Two Green Points’.

That whole grid-y inside-out structure was interesting although it didn’t steal my heart. Also the outside surfaces are in real need of refreshing making it look industrial in a shabby way, not so much in the sleek way they probably intended.

More of things I liked. Those little dots are speakers and as you walk by the long wall you can hear the soft sounds of birds tweeting and the rustle of trees.

And I liked this too, it could be a shelf.

A really charming Chagall I’ve never seen. It’s called ‘Double Portrait with Wine Glass’ and the figures are an oh-so-happy bride and groom on the way to their wedding night.

They have their very own Calder. Not quite so splendid as LACMA’s fountain, but it turns and spins, so that’s good.

This makes me think of confession. I don’t think it’s meant to.