The new Musee d'Orsay (1)

A week delayed because of a strike by the guards, the museum is now open as usual after two years of renovation of the famous upper floor. Very curious to see this written and talked about renovated fifth floor with its boldly painted walls, we rushed up and WAOU (as they say with a French accent):

A new experience to see this famous collection of Impressionist paintings and we could not get enough of wandering around. Many well known master pieces want to be rediscovered.

The important role of a good guide becomes evident when you observe these visitors hit by a severe case of museum fatigue.


Renoir, Manet, Monet, who cares when you see this soft round settee.

Halloween

There are some adventurous souls here who try to copy the American idea of Halloween. The children love receiving 'treats' but getting them is difficult because of the codes to the house doors. The very reason to have codes is to avoid getting 'tricked' this evening and all the other days of the year!
The other difficulty is to get a pumpkin for the carving of a Jack-o'-lantern. No problem at Russo's in Newton:



Searching here for something similar, one realizes perplexed that the pumpkin (potiron) is sold in slices! Not for carving, but for cubing, cooking, pureeing and instead of a lantern you will have a delicious soup.



And the black cat - the preferred pet of all the Halloween witches -



is still hissing on the half moon in the original street sign of the famous Montmartre cabaret "Le Chat Noir" (1881-97). Now it is in the collection of Museum Carnavalet.

Visit to the Louvre

What do you see? Two men carrying a way too large grape.....
This idea about over sized vegetables by Patrick Laroche seems not so new.


Patrick probably saw this painting in the Louvre and perhaps the meaning is that big vegetables are to be found in the promised land? France, the promised land? What do you think?
What do you see that makes you say that?.......

( to learn more about VTS, click on the title)

An unclassifiable artist

What happened? The result of too much obsessing about the interior decoration of our home? Choosing colors: blue, yellow, red, green? Choosing texture: satin, brilliant, mat?

Not at all! Decisions were made, the painters left and it was time to visit the Centre Pompidou to get away from it all. There they have just now the first French retrospective dedicated to the Japanese artist




Hard to classify her works - 150 are exhibited - and fascinating to learn about this multifaceted artist. Yayoi Kusama is a painter, sculptor, performer, writer and much more. She did and still does influence the contemporary art scene both in the US and in Japan.
1977 she checked herself into a private psychiatric hospital in Japan. 81 years young, she continues to paint in her own large studio there.

Her statement "My life is a dot lost in millions of other dots...." made sense to us when looking down on the Louvre court yard.

Vegetables you can't avoid

At the Sevres-Babylon Metro station we walked by this sculpture reflecting the light and catching everybody's attention.



You can use the three questions of the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) and then Google this 'Best worker of France' on www.patricklaroche.com.



Using your own Thinking Strategy, you can draw some conclusions about the art market in Paris.

Organic food

Paris 6e
Marché Bio du Boulevard Raspail
rue de Rennes à Sèvres Babylone
Le dimanche matin de 8h à 13h
Marché 100% biologique
C’est le marché le plus chic et le plus cher de Paris, mais on y croise des stars et ça, ça n’a pas de prix !




For many years this organic food market was a well kept secret where the offered vegetables, meat, cheeses etc are remarkable better then in the other markets. At the same time it was a fashion show for 'casual Sunday morning at the market' clothes. Then this was mentioned in the NYT and since then the prices are still high..... The most elegant people of Paris? Perhaps we are there at the wrong time or perhaps we belong to them without knowing?


Did you notice that the stand above offers food from "Lot et Garonne" which is about 600 km away. Who cares about the carbon footprint?

PS. Click on the title of this post to get more info!

What are 5731 km in miles?

If you ask me what the 'center of Paris' is, I say Notre Dame de Paris, the reason is the 'point zero' placed in front. It was installed 1924 and from this point all the distances to French cities are calculated. Next time you drive on a French motorway direction Paris, you will notice the count down of the distance in km on your left side on small white signs.

From Boston to Paris it is 5731 km - easy forgotten while sitting in a plane.


Here are cold nights and during the day the sun is warm which give the evenings the perfect temperature for strolling around the 'center of Paris' and admiring Notre Dame from all angles.
The buttresses remind me of something..... yes, they are the hidden reason for the breath taking height perceived by the visitors when entering the nave of the church.