Museums and the mafia

Saturday was cheese lesson number 1 as we met up with Gilles at the Port-Royal market and carefully chose with his help and the help of the owner of the stall, a few cheeses.  It was very hard as she has over 180 different sorts of cheese! But we settled on some delicious varieties including a fresh goat's cheese and some local Parisian brie. We also bought some lovely fresh vegetables and some dried fruit. It was great fun and a cultural event in itself even though the weather has turned very cold again and it was snowing!

Hugh had expressed an unusual desire to visit the Picasso Museum, which unfortunately is closed until the summer - whoops I should have checked the Internet.  Ironically the collection is now showing at the Art Gallery of NSW! However I was quite happy as there was a museum dedicated to 18th century furniture and paintings nearby called Cognacq-Jay to visit.  Hugh deserves a husband of the week award as he doesn't much enjoy aristocrats and their white skin, endless china and numerous delicate side-tables. He only sighed and muttered a few times in a mournful way! However I thought it was all fascinating, particularly a lovely picture by Greuze of a young girl with a darling King Charles spaniel just like our dear departed dog Eddy.

That night we rugged ourselves up, took some of our cheese cache and wine and went to play a great game called Mafia with some of our Institute buddies. It was a hilarious evening (perhaps in part due to the wine consumed) as people are allocated either to be townspeople or the mafia and you have guess who is who and shoot them before they shoot you. It helps to have a poker face and to be able to lie well - both attributes which are way out of my league! Kate (the gorgeous hostess) has lovely underfloor heating so I had to spend 10 minutes in the bathroom taking off many of many layers of jumpers, scarves and tights before I could compete properly.

 On Sunday we slept in for some reason! But dedicated to the cause of history and to the acquisition of culture, we hiked out on the metro through the snow and cold to the Basilica of St. Denis - sort of the Westminster Abbey of Paris, where most of the French Kings and Queens are buried in elaborate tombs or mausoleums. It was fascinating but freezing. The Basilica was built in the 12th century and has some amazing stone carvings from the middle ages. Apparently it was a royal tradition to have naked sculptures of your dead self and wife made on one level and then on top of your tomb have yourself carved in all your finery. Quite disturbing I must say. Perhaps the most haunting thing was the memorial of the dead little son of King Louis the XVI and Marie-Antoinette and a glass casket containing his heart! After another wonderful meal in a restaurant across the square we dragged ourselves home to digest it. However for the next few days it will be a necessary period of austerity with lots of vegetable soup and no cheese, as we are going to fancy restaurant number 1 on Thursday and need to make room in our stomachs for the feast!

Serious Art Student

Today I became a little more focused on art and less on shopping and went to the Gustave Moreau museum - I love this artist, who was part of the symbolist movement in the late 19th century. His paintings are full of classical themes, mythology, plenty of unicorns and scantily clad fair maidens. Lovely stuff! The museum is actually his apartment that he shared with his parents with the rooms completely furnished, as he left his apartment stuffed full of his paintings to the state. His studio covers two floors connected by an iron spiral staircase and is amazing. Feeling a bit dreamy I caught the metro up to Montmatre to get a view of Paris and to see one of the best surviving examples of the Guimard Art Nouveau metro entrances at Place des Abesses.  After climbing an endless number of stairs I did so and it was lovely but the sun was in the wrong direction for a good picture but trust me the view over Paris is amazing and you can see all the major buildings in Paris as far as the eye can see.

On Thursday, still full of zest for art I took the bus to visit the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, both neo-classical survivors of the 1900 grand exposition. The Grand Palais has a huge sparkling glass dome held up by iron as you can see below but unfortunately was closed for an upcoming exhibition so I contented myself with just peering through the windows. The Petit Palais was open though and better still, free. It is a beautiful airy slighty art nouveau like building with beautiful glass windows and a lovely rotunda courtyard but the water was mostly frozen in the pools of the fountain! It is a very eclectic collection - kind of a mini Louvre - and has a very interesting antiquities and icon sections with lots if beautiful turn of the century portraits. Feeling on a roll I then decided to go across the bridge to the Musee D'Orsay museum which is chock full of wonderful impressionist art but also filled with too many people. Still it is an amazing museum full of lovely naked ladies and gorgeous colours.

I finished off the week with a visit to the Dali exhibition at the Georges Pompidou centre (see below) - me and half of Paris I think - the crowds were amazing and they say that some people waited for 2 hours to get in.  Luckily I only waited a half an hour but I soon got pretty frustrated with the way people stand close up to a picture and hog it for ages before moving on.  I think he was an amazing character and some of his early work was very impressive - he actually could paint some wonderful portraits.  His later stuff is fun but a bit disturbing - the aim I guess! And while I am not in general a fan of modern art, I decided to visit the Modern Art section while I was there and was blown away.  Firstly, as there were hardly any people but also because the art was wonderful - works by Picasso, Matisse, Braque, Kandinsky, the Delaunays and Chagall.  I left before the 1945- 1960 section though, as it was getting a bit dark and gloomy for me - the art I mean!

Hedonistic Happiness

Monday was visit to the Louvre day part II and was focused on objects of art particularly the amazing tapestries on display at the Louvre. One group of tapestries, known as the Scipio series, particularly enthralled me - I guess I love everything with a classical theme! The tapestries portrayed the Roman General Scipio and his victory over Carthage and they were spectacular - the best one in my view was of 2 huge very worried looking elephants - perhaps they knew they were on the losing side! Also there were a couple of very naughty cherubs up to no good in a side panel that were very amusing - maybe Scipio liked little boys? I also enjoyed some sculptures in the beautiful courtyards that have been enclosed in glass and some sumptuous rooms full of furniture but soon got museum fatigue again and left in search of lunch.

My neighbor Rachel had told me, before I left, the name of the restaurant where Diane Keaton and yummy Keanu Reeves go to in Paris in the movie "Somethings Got to Give" so I was on a mission to find it. Well I did, but there was big black cloth over the windows and a man out the front said it was closed. Disappointed I moved on to the arcade next to it and wandering along I saw the same bistro on the arcade side full of people through the windows, so I decided to try again. This time there was no man out the front and another man just opened the cloth and went inside. Puzzled but curious I followed him inside. There seemed to be a lot of lights and cameras so I thought maybe someone important was there, but I went up to a waiter and asked for a table.  He burst out laughing and said "Do you think I am a waiter?"  and when I nodded he explained that they were filming a movie in the restaurant and that he was an actor, as was everyone else in the restaurant except me! I was so embarrassed by my persistence that when the director called "silence on the set!" I fled red-faced to another nice bistro nearby.   Luckily it was a nice old bistro full of mahogany and brass fittings and I soothed my nerves with a glass of Cotes du Rhone with my lunch.

It was another beautiful sunny day and I strolled along to the Place Vendome and looked at all the posh shops like Chanel, Dior etc and I even bravely went into a jewellery store where you had to buzz first and then the door is unlocked and there is this hushed atmosphere within like a temple. Nothing daunted, I tried on some beautiful emerald ear-rings spookily the same cut, colour and setting of my own recent ring acquisition! Although of course it must be fate, the price of the ear-rings made my eyes water, so I had to reluctantly leave them behind.  I consoled myself by visiting the Opera Garnier and marveling at it's Belle Epoque beauty.   I was very fortunate to get 2 tickets to see the opera Cinderella, or La Cenerentola,  in March - yippee! I am so excited and am now on a mission to buy some suitably sparkly earrings (but affordable obviously) to wear to this gala event.

The next day I visited a perfume museum (only in Paris!) which contained many interesting perfume-making implements and pots of different smells to identify.  Then, on the way to another museum called Andre-Jaquemart, I came across a number of heavenly shoe shops having sales and a wine shop where there was champagne as far as the eye could see! I wondered briefly if I had died and gone to heaven!  So in accordance with my new policy, I bought a little bottle of Bollinger to taste this week. When I finally resumed my art mission, I found the museum was extraordinary - full of beautiful paintings by Rembrandt, Fragonard and Botticelli. The house still had the original furniture and a fabulous winter garden full of classical sculptures. Funnily enough, I find I like that sort of sculpture! I had lunch in the original dining room which is now a cafe, with a Tiepolo ceiling and crimson plush seats. I felt totally hedonistic and decadent as I left my shoes and champagne in a locker and proceeded to have an exquisite lunch rounded off by a raspberry tart. Talk about the Good Life!

Birdwatching in the Bois de Bologne

Today we had lunch with Cecile and Gilles (who own our apartment) and their family and we had a lovely meal at their place. On the way to their house we passed by the street market on Boulevard Port-Royal and were amazed by one cheese stall in particular - there must have been over 100 different types of cheese. Luckily we had a small lesson on cheese at their house and maybe they will come shopping with us one day as we wouldn't really know where to begin. They also kindly invited us to their house in Normandy so we can see the Bayeux tapestry (a life-long dream of mine) and drink calvados in situ.

After lunch we had a big walk to the Rodin Museum in an effort to aid digestion! I like some of the sculptures but found the views of the dome of Les Invalides far more beguiling with its gilded shields, flags and other military symbols on the dome, glittering in the sun. I have decided I like architecture more than sculpture. As it was a nice day we walked across the spectacular Pont de Alexandre III which was built for the great exposition in 1900 - there is a great use of gilt in Paris it seems! Hugh was starting to complain about sore feet and this is the man who can birdwatch through swamps for hours on end, so we came home.

To keep him happy, on Sunday we went to the Bois de Bologne to see if we could see some nature. The park, although huge, was filled with an enormous number of joggers and every kind of dog breed known to man! Eventually we found some peace and quiet and some some nuthatches, tree-creepers and even long-tailed tits. Hugh was very pleased and almost smiled! We found a cafe and had some wine (very civilized) and the French version of fast food - a very delicious cheese tart in my case and a hot dog in a baguette for Hugh. It was fun sitting in the sun and people watching for a while. Hugh made us catch the metro home although I prefer the buses - probably because of a slight claustrophobia but also because Paris is so pretty, why would you want to go underground? But I had my reward for being a good wife as Hugh strangely agreed to go to the Opera if we could get tickets - so watch this space!

Fashion and Flowers

I woke up to grey skies and rain today so decided to head off by bus to a branch of the famous Galleries Lafayette department store chain which is near me in Montparnasse. I was in the market for a pretty dress to wear out to the fancy restaurants that I plan to visit and maybe to the Opera. My mission was accomplished more quickly than I anticipated as I fell in love with a beautiful black dress that was reasonably priced and even better accompanied by a helpful sales assistant who found my size. After that I found an angora jumper just right for this cold weather for 20 euros - what a bargain and soon I found I was panting slightly with a desire to buy the whole shop!  I ended on the lingerie floor and left clasping a silk negligee and a rather battered credit card!

It was Valentine's day and such a delight to visit the numerous florist shops around our apartment - as you can see, after much inward debating, I bought this lovely bunch of roses. The sales assistant was making a gorgeous bouquet with tiny roses and little crocuses and many other delightful flowers in a little heart shaped box which was so sweet, but as she was busy I decided not to bother her by taking a photograph. There are many small wine shops around us too and I have made an executive decision to buy the small bottles (325 ml) they have here once a week to learn more about champagne - it is purely for research purposes obviously! Most French champagne is consumed by the domestic market with many small companies which we never see in Australia. That night the rain miraculously stopped so we walked to a nice little Burgundian bistro that I had seen on my travels and ate a delicious potato galette and a huge creme caramel( we shared it) accompanied by a nice pinot noir wine from Burgundy. A great treat to spend Valentine's day in romantic Paris.

The next day was sunny, so after meeting Hugh for lunch, I wandered down across the river to the Place des Vosges which looked gorgeous in the sunlight as you can see and visited the house of Victor Hugo, whose book the Hunchback of Notre-Dame I am currently reading, and whose former apartment overlooks the square. I am having a Victor Hugo moment at present as I loved his book Les Miserables and of course the recent movie. I then wandered around the Marais district and visited the Hotel Carnavalet which, like the Victor Hugo house, is free and full of period French furniture, pictures and china. Of great interest to me is the revolutionary section with Napoleon memorabilia and rustic china with worker motifs and slogans like liberty, equality and fraternity in such contrast to the delicate Sevres porcelain in the rest of the museum. I was quite tired by the time I reached the bus stop but optimistic that all this walking was burning off a little of last night's creme caramel! We shall see.

Marvelous Macaroons

On Tuesday I caught a bus to Le Bon Marche, the oldest department store in Paris which was nice but too expensive for me. Then I pretended to be an intellectual and went to the famous cafe Les Deux Magots in St Germain des Pres where Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre used to hang out. It was fun wandering around the tiny back streets of this area window shopping - particularly the window of Laduree, another Parisian institution, which is too pretty (almost) to eat! I bought a little box of adorable macaroons and have been having one a day with my tea - such a treat! That night we went to a nice function at the Natural History Museum where I tasted my first champagne in France (very nice) and mingled with the people attending the workshop. The canapés were divine and the tiny profiteroles brought tears of joy to my eyes. France is a very civilized place indeed!

The next day I took a bus out along the triumphal way as it is called - from the great obelisk in the Place de la Concord along the Champs Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe (although they have ruined the view back to the Arc du Carousel at the Louvre with one of those ferris wheel things). I then went to the Trocadero for a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower, which as I have no desire to climb, I am happy to view from a distance! The cold was nearly killing me so I retired to a lovely place near the Pantheon for a heavenly buckwheat crepe filled with goats cheese, honey and walnuts. Thus fortified I tackled the Pantheon and was rewarded by seeing the tombs of my favorite French authors Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas and Emile Zola along with Voltaire and Rousseau. I was also surprised but pleased to see a memorial to St-Exupery whose book the Little Prince I was reading to improve my French just before I left home. To that end I bought a copy of a Le Monde newspaper which will probably take me a week to read with a dictionary - quite good value for 1 euro 80! By now the sun was coming out again and I enjoyed wandering around the streets of the Latin quarter noting down some nice restaurants for future visits. I came across the famous bookshop Shakespeare and company which is situated right on the seine with an enviable view of Notre-Dame as you can see. However it is tiny and very crowded to enjoy properly - makes you wonder what it must be like in the summer!

Paris Adventure Begins

So we have arrived in Paris for a 7 week sojourn. The weather is cold and sleety and we have to adjust to a 30 degree drop in temperature. Our first challenge is to get to our apartment and Hugh did not want to get a taxi as he hates taxis apparently and cajoled me with tales of how much fun it will be on the train! Needless to say the trains were not working on that day which we discover after buying the tickets, so we have to work our way back to a bus stop and then clamber on board a crowded bus with our luggage and then drag it down many steps when we finally reach another train station to get to Paris - I have to say my love for my husband wavered a bit for a moment or two! However at last we reached our stop and were met by Gilles who owns our apartment and who walked us to it. It is an adorable hobbit-like place yet one has to be careful not to drop the soap in the shower as it is tricky to pick it up without banging your head! Nevertheless it is very comfortable with lots of shops and restaurants and most importantly a yummy boulangerie nearby. I had forgotten how good French bread is. We braved the cold to walk to the Institute Henri Poincare where Hugh will be working but soon fled the elements to a cafe for coffee and a crepe - we felt very Parisian as a result.

 

After much sleep and plenty of good French wine, I was ready to tackle Paris and bought a navigo card so I can zoom about Paris on buses and metros quite cheaply. I decided to make for the Louvre which I plan to visit once a week and just look at one section as you can easily get museum fatigue in that place. So after a restorative cafe and brioche, I began with the Egyptian antiquities, which although it is not full of mummies like the British museum, it is more interesting to me as it has lots of unusual objects like rolls of linen, wooden utensils and other very fragile objects that are quite rare. Just as I was getting Museum fatigue,the sun came out and I decided to take advantage of this and walk along the Seine to Notre-Dame. This picture is me on the Pont Neuf which despite it's name is the oldest bridge in Paris and has lovely views of the ille-de-cite.

 I had a lovely wander around the little squares and buildings until I reached the Cathedral which is a nice gloomy place with the famous rose windows which sparkled on cue in the weak winter sunlight. After lunch I decided to hop on some buses and just travel around getting my bearings - I travelled along the Rue de Rivoli and saw the Louvre, the Palais Royale and went past the spectacular Opera Garnier. Then I changed buses for a trip past the Bastille and then home. Later we met up with some students of Hugh's lab who are here also and had much fun drinking and chatting in a bar near the Pantheon - it is a very hard life!