I set out early again to see how many Parisian miles I could put on my shoes in a day, taking the Metro to a neighborhood known as Marais. This area has more prerevolutionary buildings than anywhere else in town, and is more atmospheric than touristry. It was the most residential and neighborhood of normal existence I had seen so close to the center city.
There were local kids playing in the streets, residents going about their normal Saturday business, corner cafés with pups anxiously seated by their masters waiting for handouts. It was truly “French” and very beautiful. It represents how the city looked in the mid-1800’s before Napoleon III had the large boulevards constructed to accommodate the guns and ranks of his army. It is a trendy area with shopping, cafés, and Musee’ Picasso, the first stop on my list.
Paris’ Picasso museum contains the world’s largest collection of Picasso’s paintings, sculptures, sketches, ceramics, from his final work, it is away from the tourist crowd and hectic Paris traffic, in the Hotel Sale, a 1656 mansion, and was opened in 1985 with 203 paintings and 156 pieces of sculpture, coming from the Picasso heritage and paid to the French state as death duties. In the courtyard entrance to the mansion I was greeted by the temporary exhibition by French artist Daniel Buren featuring a large mirror hanging from several rooms. The exhibition sliced the mansion into sections and created interesting perspective. Unfortunately, this exhibition is believed to have weakened security, blocking several surveillance cameras enabling a theft earlier in the month on June 10th, when one of Picasso’s sketchbooks was stolen. The museum will be closed in the coming months to work on improving security. To give you an idea of the worth of Picasso’s work, Two Picasso paintings worth an estimated $88.07 million, were taken from the Paris home of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, the artist's granddaughter, in February 2007.
I enjoyed the exhibit so very much. Though much of Picasso’s work overlaps the impressionist period, his final and notable work is based on cubism. He uses hard lines and stark contrast of colors, and most famously, much juxtaposition with shapes and contortion of figures which give much humor and secret meaning to much of his work. This period of work focuses on still figures and objects versus landscape, including musical instruments (probably another reason for my interest in his work). I can get lost in some of pieces, trying to interpret the meaning the colors and shapes represent. It is a drastic departure from the softer work of the impressionist I saw at the Orsay the day before, and the second Picasso exhibit I have seen. Again, what a treat to be in the city where the world’s most famous artists developed their crafts and created such timeless pieces!
The museum visit took a couple of hours, then I set out on foot toward the city center and the Cathedral at Notre Dame. It’s always uncertain what the actual distance is that is shown on a map, but I preferred not getting back on the Metro again, so I kept walking. There was a sustainable art display in one of the squares. I am so impressed with the repeated promotion of sustainability I have witnessed across Europe, and it was quite appropriate for a sustainable art display to be among the city’s works on display.
I also stopped in some unique shops in route to Notre Dame, and luckily it is so large, it can be seen from a distance, an easy target to walk towards. The weather was warm, typical summer I understand most everyone is experiencing right now, but what better place on the planet to be than in Paris! I feel so blessed to be in the middle of this adventure!
Notre Dame is one of the central points of Paris and a major tourist attraction. Sure enough, there were people everywhere, and unfortunately, upon my arrival, I learned that both the cathedral and tower were both closed due to an event that was scheduled that day. It was massive from the outside and the detail in the façade was incredible. My travel book’s narration helped my understanding of the architecture and history, my own tour guide. The cathedral is 700 years old and is dedicated to “Our Lady”, and Mary is center stage, cradling Jesus on the façade above the main entrance. Every statue and carving holds specific meaning. I am disappointed I not able to go in the cathedral, but it was definitely impressive from the outside.
It was very hot out and I was tired from all the walking of the last few days, but I pressed on, determined to “see all I could see”! Next on the agenda was the Musee’ de l’Orangerie, home of Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies”, one of my most favorite and world famous works of art. In route I stopped for an impromptu puppet show on one of the bridges, one of the many artists of the city showing off their talents for spare change.
I had a general idea of the museum’s location, got back on Metro to head toward theTuileries Garden, outside the Musee du Louvre (home of the Mona Lisa). The Tuileries Garden is one of the first experiences Chris, Keri and I had in route to the Eiffel Tower the first afternoon we arrived in Paris. When the three of us walked through it that afternoon, many Paris local were stretched out in chairs and on the grass by the fountains, soaking up the sun and breathing the expressionistic Paris air. We all said “we want to be one of those people”! I decided to take a time out and “be one of those people”. I found a couple of chairs, propped up my feet, and dozed in the sun for about hour. The sun was so warm on my skin, and it was relief my weary feet needed.
After my nap, I got some ice cream from a vendor in the gardens and moved on toward the Orangerie. This museum is in a pretty hidden spot, and isn’t bombarded with tourists like the larger Louvre museum, as it is small in size, and only holds the Water Lilies and the art collection of Paul Guillaume, famous art collector and dealer of the impressionist period.
I walked right in with my museum pass, got my audio tour, and went straight for the Water Lilies. I walked into the first room and was awe struck, literally. Water Lilies (or Nympheas) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings, depicting Monet's flower garden at Giverny and were the main focus of Monet's artistic production during the last thirty years of his life. Many of the works were painted while Monet suffered from cataracts.
The paintings are on display at museums all over the world. During the 1920s, the state of France built a pair of oval rooms at the Musée de l'Orangerie as a permanent home for eight water lily murals by Monet. The exhibit opened to the public on 16 May 1927, a few months after Monet's death. Sixty water lily paintings from around the world were assembled for a special exhibition at the Musée de l'Orangerie in 1999. As a reference of the value of Monet’s work, on 19 June 2007, one of Monet's water lily paintings sold for about $27.5 million at a Sotheby'sLondon.
The paintings are arranged on the north, south, east, west walls according to the vantage point orientation of each in the garden when Monet was painting them. You can see the change in lighting and shadow based on the location. I was and still am truly amazed. This was a highlight of the trip for me – WOW! This is a must see when visiting Paris.
I was pretty sure my day was complete after the Water Lilies experience, so I headed out of town to our residence and some rest. The Metro was so hot and crowded, not the preferred mode of transportation at rush hour in the summer; but it’s cheap and fairly easy to navigate, as long as you’re not intimidated by not being able to speak or understand the language.
I was glad to take it easy that evening and crawl in bed early. We had one more day in Paris and you guessed it – I planned to make the most of it!
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