Trip to Paris

We were in Paris from last Sunday to Wednesday. Bailey was out at her boarding camp and seems to have had a good time. We did mostly museums while in Paris, an evening cruise on the Sienne, and of course, lots of walking. 

Musee de Cluny, museum of the medieval world.

This museum was a grand home built on top of a Roman bathhouse. The collection spans from the Roman era through the middle ages and was quite interesting. It was located just around the block from our hotel and we went there on Sunday afternoon after we arrived. They had a special exhibit featuring they mythology of unicorns and their permanent collection includes four huge tapestries that include unicorns as well.

Part of the Roman baths that was incorporated into the building.

Later Sunday afternoon we walked to the Grand Palais for an exhibit of works from the later years of Henri Matisse. 

The Grand Palais

Above and below, two monumental sculptures on top of the Grand Palais.

In his later years Matisse created his art not by direct painting, but by cutting painted paper and assembling the pieces. He also designed some stained glass windows in the same way.

This one was my favorite.

This was a quote from him that I loved: 

"I hope that however old we live to be, we die young."

Walking around Paris is an experience in itself. Everything seems monumental, the boulevards, green spaces, the public art, and the architecture. And being spring, there were lots of things in bloom.

Chestnut trees

Place de la Concorde (with Napolean's obelisk), and the Arc de Triumph in the background.

Notre Dame at night from the river.

Our evening boat trip Sunday evening was timed to arrive at the Eifel Tower at 9:00 p.m. when the lights sparkle.

Monday morning we went to the L'Orangerie, a museum purpose built to display Monet's water lilies. Monet designed the building, consisting of two oval rooms forming an infinity symbol, with only natural lighting. Photos can not begin to do it justice.

On the lower level of L'Orangerie was an exhibit of works by Henri Rousseau. 

Renoir's "Peaches" was also on display there.

Clay and wisely booked tickets for our museum visits, but we had unscheduled time Monday afternoon. We walked to the Pantheon, a monument to and burial place of many of France's greatest writers, philosophers, and statesmen. It was fascinating and the fact that the most recent internment there was of the man who fought for the abolishment of the death penalty and supporter of gay rights was gratifying.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Madame Curie

This monument was dedicated to unknown writers.

Later Monday after we visited Sainte-Chapelle, the only remaining part of a royal palace built by Louis IX. The stained glass is amazing, but the lower chapel with it's painted ceilings is also amazing.

The upper chapel with all the stained glass was the king's private chapel.

This beautiful space is the lower chapel downstairs for non-nobles.

Tuesday morning we had tickets to the Renoir exhibit at the Musee d'Orsay. It was originally a train station and is a work of art in itself. There were actually two Renoir exhibits, one of paintings and another of his drawings. In addition, the museum's permanent collection of Impressionist art is incredible. 

The picture above of a man and woman dancing and the two below were displayed together in one room for the first time ever. They look like they should always be kept together.

Flowers or fruit, I love still life paintings.

I took pictures of every Degas dancer painting they had.

Seeing so many paintings that I've seen before in books or photos was amazing, but even more so was the breadth of paintings by Impressionist artists that I had never seen. 

In addition to the artwork, the d'Orsay has a collection of art nouveau furniture and furnishings that was incredible. 

We finally left the d'Orsay out of exhaustion not because we had seen it all. We had another museum to hit that day, the former home and museum of Auguste Rodin. He donated the house and the collection to the state to be made into a museum after his death. The donation included his personal art collection as well. 

It was a great trip and we thoroughly enjoyed it. It was also much easier to get by with English in Paris than it is in Lille, at least in tourist-oriented places. 

This statute of Thomas Jefferson took me by surprise although I knew that he had been ambassador to France at one time. The statue was across the street from the building below, the Legion of Honor, which looks remarkably like Jefferson's Monticello, and the White House.

Great trip, one of many visits to Paris that we plan to take in the future.