Au Revoir, Paris
Monday, November 19
I remember more than a decade ago, we were visiting Paris and I saw a row of bike-share rentals. It was the first time that I had actually seen one. That concept had not come to New York City yet. The bikes were all purple and the company was called Velib.
I took a great photo of the bikes all lined up. All you needed was a credit card to tap on the meter and off you would go. Naturally, the US did not have that type of credit card, so I couldn't take one out for a spin.
Now, years later, the concept is still going strong in Paris and other French cities. But, this time around, Velib has bikes that are electric and you don't need a credit card, you just need the app on your phone. (Smart phones didn't even exist back then!)
Monday was a work day, so these are all lined up by commuters.
And now, there is a new business that we didn't see last year -- renting electric scooters. Same deal; use the app and you're on your way. These scooters don't seem to have any particular place to be parked, so they are all over the place. People just leave them wherever they happen to be when they are done with them. I expect that they are equipped with GPS so that the company can find them. The bikes get recharged in the rack. Since these don't go into a rack, I'm not sure how they get recharged. Obviously, there is a system.
Monday was a windy and chilly day in Paris, but we only had two days left, so there was no time to just sit around and read emails.
We had decided to go the Grand Palais to one of the three exhibits mounted there. We had our choice of Michael Jackson, Venise (yes, that's the French spelling) or Jean Miro'.
It shouldn't take much of a head-scratch to figure out which one got our money.
We really enjoyed this exhibit. There were, of course, lots of Canalettos, but also those of his fellow painter Guardi, which at first glance (by the untrained eye) are indistinguishable from each other. After some evaluation, I could see some differences, though subtle.
The thing about these paintings is that except for the clothing (and the fancy gilded boats), Venice looks EXACTLY the same today as it did 300 years ago. Nothing has really changed. The buildings are all still there and the primary method of navigating the city is still by water.
We have been to Venice three times. The last time was a couple of years ago during the turn from February into March. On our first evening there, we needed to go out for food supplies but the aqua alta prevented us from going even to the next block. We opted for a restaurant across the canal from our apartment instead, even though it was through water up to our ankles. A few months ago, the aqua alta reached a high water mark for recent history.
This portrait of Farinelli caught my eye. He was the most famous castrato ever. He became the darling of society and fabulously wealthy, but I don't know, I suspect that he might have preferred a different career path, all things considered.
Besides paintings, there were many pieces of furniture and the decorative arts. This piece was incredible for both its design and its preservation. Not a nick or crack to be seen. Or, maybe it just had a top notch restoration.
If you've been following my blogs through the years, you will already know that I am totally enthralled with marble statues. I wouldn't give a bronze statue house room, but I would spend a few million to have a garden full of marble sculptures.
This sculpture has something that I have rarely seen before; a face veil. And, it is perfectly executed. You can clearly see the features of her face and yet you can also see that she has a sheer veil covering her face. Magnificent.
Here's the full length version.
The skill to make a statue like that just knocks my socks off.
In the grand staircase leading to the exhibit exit, there was this rather strange display of elegant Venetian gowns.
I told Larry that it was a rare opportunity to look up a lady's skirt. He wasn't impressed by my humor.
Tuesday, November 20
We have come to our last day in Paris for this trip. We hope to have more trips to Paris in our future, but one never knows.
We could not leave Paris without going to our absolute favorite museum -- Musee d'Orsay. We have been to the Orsay every time that we have been to Paris, which by now is nine times.
It was a rainy day, slightly chilly but not really cold. We stood in a line for 20 minutes or so only to find out that it was the line for pre-paid tickets. I should have remembered from our many previous visits that we needed to go in through the other door. The line for that door snaked around for more than an hour and a half. Had this been any other museum, we probably would have packed it in and gone somewhere else. But this is the Orsay! I've only been to the Louvre once and found it overwhelming, but the Orsay sucks me in every time.
While in the first line, we happened to see these marchers pass by. We were not sure what they might be protesting. After all, the French manage to muster up a protest march several times a year, with more than one taking place at the same time, often.
Thanks to Mr. Google, I looked up the names on the banners and figured out that it was a labor group protest of some sort. I still didn't know what they were protesting, but I thought it might be lack of jobs.
In a different part of the city, another group was protesting the cost of gasoline. I don't blame them ;the cost of gas in Europe is just short of criminal. The prices actually look fine to American eyes until you realize that the price is first of all in Euros, not dollars (exchange rate 1.18 now), and secondly that the price is per litre! That makes gas almost four times as much as in the US. When I complain about the cost of gas in the US, I remember the prices in Europe and then I feel ridiculous for complaining.
We eventually got through the line and into the museum, but not before a 20 minute absolute stop on admissions. Luckily, we were by that time standing right in front of the window to the entrance and we could see what was going on in the security check -- or not going on as the case may be.
An older guy, going in alone, had some type of folded knife in his backpack. That stopped the line dead. At first, they let him go through to the line to purchase tickets. Eventually, security took him somewhere else and let the very long line start to process through the security check. It was like the scanning equipment at an airport.
By the time that we got our tickets and entered the museum proper, we were starving, so instead of going to the exhibits, we headed straight for the restaurant. This has to be among the most beautiful restaurants in the entire world.
Unfortunately for us, the Impressionist section, the one that we long to see each time, was closed for restoration and would not reopen for another three days. We would not have had the time to visit our favorites anyway because we spent our time going through the Picasso special exhibit.
Neither of us is particularly a fan of Picasso, but it was a rare chance to see so many of his works in the same place, especially the early works that don't often get as much attention as his later cubist works. He was in his early 20s when he did these paintings.
These were works from his blue and pink period, hence the name of the exhibit "Picasso: Blu et Rose".
The exhibit was very crowded, probably because the Impressionist section was closed, so options were more limited than usual. Taking photos was allowed, but the crowds prevented unobstructed shots, so I only have two photos of the entire exhibit.
Just before leaving, we zipped through an exhibit of Renoir the painter and Renoir the film maker; father and son. It was interesting and, of course, I could look at Renoir paintings all day long. But, it was very dark in the rooms and the rooms were also very crowded, so no photos.
By this time, the loudspeaker announced in four languages that it was closing time.
On the way out, I could not resist this new addition to the sculpture gallery.
Oh, those folds in her gown!
And, so, adieu to Paris once again. Yes, we'll be back, but for now, life in the US awaits us.
Au revoir, Paris.
I remember more than a decade ago, we were visiting Paris and I saw a row of bike-share rentals. It was the first time that I had actually seen one. That concept had not come to New York City yet. The bikes were all purple and the company was called Velib.
I took a great photo of the bikes all lined up. All you needed was a credit card to tap on the meter and off you would go. Naturally, the US did not have that type of credit card, so I couldn't take one out for a spin.
Now, years later, the concept is still going strong in Paris and other French cities. But, this time around, Velib has bikes that are electric and you don't need a credit card, you just need the app on your phone. (Smart phones didn't even exist back then!)
Monday was a work day, so these are all lined up by commuters.
And now, there is a new business that we didn't see last year -- renting electric scooters. Same deal; use the app and you're on your way. These scooters don't seem to have any particular place to be parked, so they are all over the place. People just leave them wherever they happen to be when they are done with them. I expect that they are equipped with GPS so that the company can find them. The bikes get recharged in the rack. Since these don't go into a rack, I'm not sure how they get recharged. Obviously, there is a system.
Monday was a windy and chilly day in Paris, but we only had two days left, so there was no time to just sit around and read emails.
We had decided to go the Grand Palais to one of the three exhibits mounted there. We had our choice of Michael Jackson, Venise (yes, that's the French spelling) or Jean Miro'.
It shouldn't take much of a head-scratch to figure out which one got our money.
We really enjoyed this exhibit. There were, of course, lots of Canalettos, but also those of his fellow painter Guardi, which at first glance (by the untrained eye) are indistinguishable from each other. After some evaluation, I could see some differences, though subtle.
The thing about these paintings is that except for the clothing (and the fancy gilded boats), Venice looks EXACTLY the same today as it did 300 years ago. Nothing has really changed. The buildings are all still there and the primary method of navigating the city is still by water.
We have been to Venice three times. The last time was a couple of years ago during the turn from February into March. On our first evening there, we needed to go out for food supplies but the aqua alta prevented us from going even to the next block. We opted for a restaurant across the canal from our apartment instead, even though it was through water up to our ankles. A few months ago, the aqua alta reached a high water mark for recent history.
This portrait of Farinelli caught my eye. He was the most famous castrato ever. He became the darling of society and fabulously wealthy, but I don't know, I suspect that he might have preferred a different career path, all things considered.
Besides paintings, there were many pieces of furniture and the decorative arts. This piece was incredible for both its design and its preservation. Not a nick or crack to be seen. Or, maybe it just had a top notch restoration.
If you've been following my blogs through the years, you will already know that I am totally enthralled with marble statues. I wouldn't give a bronze statue house room, but I would spend a few million to have a garden full of marble sculptures.
This sculpture has something that I have rarely seen before; a face veil. And, it is perfectly executed. You can clearly see the features of her face and yet you can also see that she has a sheer veil covering her face. Magnificent.
Here's the full length version.
The skill to make a statue like that just knocks my socks off.
In the grand staircase leading to the exhibit exit, there was this rather strange display of elegant Venetian gowns.
I told Larry that it was a rare opportunity to look up a lady's skirt. He wasn't impressed by my humor.
***
Tuesday, November 20
We have come to our last day in Paris for this trip. We hope to have more trips to Paris in our future, but one never knows.
We could not leave Paris without going to our absolute favorite museum -- Musee d'Orsay. We have been to the Orsay every time that we have been to Paris, which by now is nine times.
It was a rainy day, slightly chilly but not really cold. We stood in a line for 20 minutes or so only to find out that it was the line for pre-paid tickets. I should have remembered from our many previous visits that we needed to go in through the other door. The line for that door snaked around for more than an hour and a half. Had this been any other museum, we probably would have packed it in and gone somewhere else. But this is the Orsay! I've only been to the Louvre once and found it overwhelming, but the Orsay sucks me in every time.
While in the first line, we happened to see these marchers pass by. We were not sure what they might be protesting. After all, the French manage to muster up a protest march several times a year, with more than one taking place at the same time, often.
Thanks to Mr. Google, I looked up the names on the banners and figured out that it was a labor group protest of some sort. I still didn't know what they were protesting, but I thought it might be lack of jobs.
In a different part of the city, another group was protesting the cost of gasoline. I don't blame them ;the cost of gas in Europe is just short of criminal. The prices actually look fine to American eyes until you realize that the price is first of all in Euros, not dollars (exchange rate 1.18 now), and secondly that the price is per litre! That makes gas almost four times as much as in the US. When I complain about the cost of gas in the US, I remember the prices in Europe and then I feel ridiculous for complaining.
We eventually got through the line and into the museum, but not before a 20 minute absolute stop on admissions. Luckily, we were by that time standing right in front of the window to the entrance and we could see what was going on in the security check -- or not going on as the case may be.
An older guy, going in alone, had some type of folded knife in his backpack. That stopped the line dead. At first, they let him go through to the line to purchase tickets. Eventually, security took him somewhere else and let the very long line start to process through the security check. It was like the scanning equipment at an airport.
By the time that we got our tickets and entered the museum proper, we were starving, so instead of going to the exhibits, we headed straight for the restaurant. This has to be among the most beautiful restaurants in the entire world.
Unfortunately for us, the Impressionist section, the one that we long to see each time, was closed for restoration and would not reopen for another three days. We would not have had the time to visit our favorites anyway because we spent our time going through the Picasso special exhibit.
Neither of us is particularly a fan of Picasso, but it was a rare chance to see so many of his works in the same place, especially the early works that don't often get as much attention as his later cubist works. He was in his early 20s when he did these paintings.
These were works from his blue and pink period, hence the name of the exhibit "Picasso: Blu et Rose".
The exhibit was very crowded, probably because the Impressionist section was closed, so options were more limited than usual. Taking photos was allowed, but the crowds prevented unobstructed shots, so I only have two photos of the entire exhibit.
Just before leaving, we zipped through an exhibit of Renoir the painter and Renoir the film maker; father and son. It was interesting and, of course, I could look at Renoir paintings all day long. But, it was very dark in the rooms and the rooms were also very crowded, so no photos.
By this time, the loudspeaker announced in four languages that it was closing time.
On the way out, I could not resist this new addition to the sculpture gallery.
Oh, those folds in her gown!
And, so, adieu to Paris once again. Yes, we'll be back, but for now, life in the US awaits us.
Au revoir, Paris.
***
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