Friday (21 March). Woke to a wet day but went bare-headed to stand in line with local Parisians to see the Brassai Exhibition – For a The Love of Paris. It’s on at the Hotel de Ville and we’ve been going past it for the last two weeks. There have been queues every day and it was extended due to popular demand.
It was wonderful and we both loved it. Photos of people. Famous – Simone de Beauvoir, Sartre, Picasso, Dali and his wife Maya. Infamous – petty thieves and prostitutes. And people in between – abattoir workers, children on the street and on barges, circus performers. Lots of lovers. A very humanist approach to photography. Also some lovely photos of Paris. All the places we’ve been – Tuileries, Place de La Concorde, Luxemburg Gardens, Montparnesse. Monuments and Boulevardes. Paris by day in all sorts of weather – snow, rain, sunshine. Paris by night. He photographed graffiti and made it look like primitive or naïf art. He was famous in his day and rightly so. We bought a small book of his photographs. These don’t do him justice.
We then walked around to the back of Notre Dame to see the Memorial to the Martyrs of Deportation. It was closed for ‘exceptional reasons’ – whatever that means. So that was disappointing but I took some photos of the back of the cathedral. And a duck that was enjoying the limelight on the wall of the Seine. In front of yet another bridge being weighed down by lovers locks.
We had lunch at a cafe on the Boulevarde Saint Germaine – on the street in the sun as all the locals do. It’s nice except for all the cigarette smoke! Then we walked through the back streets to the Musee D’Orsay. Up Rue Jacob we went past a house where Wagner had stayed for a short time. His is the dark door below. Appropriate as he didn’t like French music. We also found the house Collete lived in when she first came to Paris. Appropriately, the white shuttered building.
Saw some lovely shops along the way, including one selling vintage jewelry where a necklace in the window caught my eye! And Joe channelled Brassai – who in addition to playing with light, liked to photograph things at a slant. Check out the mirror in the photo below. Gives you a flavour of the shop. Tiny. My new collier is vintage Art Deco!
At the museum we were delighted to find that our pass meant we didn’t have to queue. We had spent most time on our first visit up on the second level marveling at the Impressionists. Now we spent a couple of hours on the first floor where there were some more wonderful paintings. Manet’s little drummer boy and his Olympia. I was pleased to see Jean-Francois Millet’s L’Angelus. I don’t know why that painting is so familiar. Also liked all his others especially Les Glaneuses. Saw Whistler’s mother (much bigger than I had imagined). There was also a wonderful room of white paintings that included one of a skier zig zagging down a white slope – the journey of life (very existential). A room of enormous Gustave Courbet paintings. Amazing. Also had more time to admire the building. It’s a wonderful space. Inside and outside. Paris to Orleans anyone?
From the Museum we walked up to Montparnesse. Came through a Quarter full of Government Departments including Defense and Education. Passed by Andre Gide’s house in one of the streets nearby. Later we passed the Syrian Embassy.
Montparnesse is de Bouvoir and Sartre territory. But we visited one place they were unlikely ever to have entered. The local church. A modern place obviously host to an active congregation. I lit a candle for my mother. We then went across the road and had a drink at La Coupule which our two bohemians (is that a correct description – doesn’t seem right) frequented along with other writers and artists. Their photos now adorn one wall. Hemingway and Picasso as well as Simone and JP. The ceiling and columns here have been painted by artists such as Chagall (he did the main dome), Modigliani and others. They say it’s the same now as when it was first built. It’s very big.
From there we walked a little further down to La Closerie des Lilas. Recommended by a friend. Another haunt of writers past – and other famous people who have left their autographs. Now used as a place-mat. They say current writers also frequent this place which has both a restaurant and a Bistrot. We were in the latter. There was a suggestion in one of the guide books that the waiters weren’t friendly but ours was. He recommended a red wine which was wonderful. Joe had steak and I had duck followed by a perfect strawberry millefeuille with a dessert wine recommended by a second, also friendly, waiter. We were tired but had a lovely time.
On the way home we channelled Brassai and tried our hand at night time photos. The ones through the fence of the Luxemburg Gardens didn’t work but some of the others were okay.
Pauline says
I hope you remembered to say hi to Whistler’s mother for me. I love it. And the size does come as a surprise. Sounds like another great day and very glad of the long walks after all that rich food