Still a little chilly but no rain as predicted so another perfect day for a nice long walk. I headed toward the Arc de Triomphe where I had a lovely French brunch at the L'Ecole restaurant. So delicious with lots of little dishes of traditional French breakfast of yogurt, fruit, a small bowl of cereal, a croissant a small baguette and then eggs with a slice of bacon. It also came with juice and a cup of tea or coffee. I love brunch in New York so it was so much fun to have brunch in France and one more like a tasting menu than a full brunch. My table had a view of the Arc which was just one block away which was also a special treat.
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| L'Ecole Restaurant |
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| My lovely French Brunch |
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| Church of Madeleine |
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| Church of Madeleine with the conductor and orchestra in front of the alter |
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| Church of Madeleine |
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| Church of Madeleine |
I left brunch and headed over toward the Seine. I came to the Church of Madeleine with it's impressive column exterior making it look more like a Roman or Greek Temple. The interior is vast and as I entered I heard the gorgeous music which filled the space fully. A large orchestra was playing near the high alter and it turns out they were performing a concert tonight and had an open practice session. I enjoyed the music with the rest of the crowd that was also clearly surprised and delighted to have stumbled upon it.
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Musee d'Orsay top floor looking out from the back of the large exterior clock.
The view out to the city and across to Montmatre and the Basilica of Sacre Coeur |
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| Pretty cafe on the top floor of the Musee d'Orsay with a second enormous clock |
I made my way over the Seine River to the Musee d'Orsay which has an incredible Impressionist collection. I had been to the museum on my first visit 6 years ago but only got to spend an hour there so I didn't venture up to the 5th floor to see the Impressionists, it was really so exciting to be there and I've never seen so many Monet's in one place it was overwhelming to say the least.
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| Picture of Musee d'Orsey open interior (from online source) |
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| Musee d'Orsey open interior |
The museum is unique in many ways but not the least being that in he 1980's a massive train station was turned into this incredible space with impressive open space throughout the main exhibition spaces with phenomenal natural light streaming through the ceiling which retains the glass structure that protected the interior of the original train station.
There are thousands of works so it was getting overwhelming pretty quickly so I had to focus on just a few works that caught my eye (included below) mainly because of the colors which were bright and vibrant. And one, Van Gogh's "Starry Night" which is so stunning in person and I spotted it the moment I walked in the Post Impressionists gallery and was drawn to it's magic. They also had an interesting temporary exhibit "
A Passion for France. The Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection. A pair of American art lovers, passionate about French culture, created, over several decades, an outstanding collection of 19th century and early 20th century works. The bonds of friendship established between the owners and the director of the Musée d’Orsay and Musée de l’Orangerie have now enabled this collection to be exhibited." I only stayed there for a few minutes because I really had pretty much reached the saturation point for viewing art.
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Alfred Sisley's "Allee de peupliers aux environs de Moret-Sur-Loing"
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Auguste Renoir's "Julie Manet" (the niece of Edouard Manet from his brother and friend of Renoir, Eufene Manet) or "Child with Cat"
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Camille Pissarro's "Femme dans un clos, soleil de printemps dans le pre a Eragny"
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Claude Monet's "La plage et la porte d'amont"
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Claude Monet's La rue Montorgueil, à Paris. Fête du 30 juin 1878
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Edouard Manet's "Oeillets et clematite dans un vase de cristal"
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Henri Matisse's "La Blouse Blanche-Brodee"
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Gorgeous Stained glass window - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Louis Comfort Tiffany - "Au Nouveau Cirque, Papa Chrysantheme"
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James Abbott McNeil Whistler's "Arragement en gris et noir 1"
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Paul Cezanne's "Achille Emperaire"
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Because this painting intreagued me I looked it up online for an explanation of the subject and it turns out he's an artist, another of those I'd never heard. "Achille Emperaire (16 September 1829 - 8 January 1898) was a French painter and a friend of Paul Cézanne's. Achille Emperaire was born as a dwarf and a hunchback, in Aix-en-Provence in 1829. His friend Paul Cézanne once said, 'Well, he didn't make it. Still, he was a lot more of a painter than all those dripping with medals and honours.' Emperaire took drawing lessons in Aix from 1844 to 1856, whilst Cézanne only started attending the school in 1858. Therefore the two men only met in Paris in 1861, at the Académie Suisse.
After graduating from the drawing school, Emperaire decided to go to Paris. From 1857 onwards, he would often go to Paris and started attending Thomas Couture's school there.[3] Adamant to make the grade, he would ask for help anywhere, undaunted by the prospect of living in the streets. He even wrote in his letters, 'When occasionally I can spend 80 centimes on a meal, it feels like an orgy. [...] The rest of the time, to skip a meal, I quell my hunger by eating bread crumbs with wine and sugar.'.Also, 'Paris is a massive tomb, an unquestionable and awful mirage for most people. While a few get along, most of us fail, believe me.' On the eve of his first exhibition in Paris, he applied varnish on his canvas. The next day, the painting was in pieces. Traumatised, he would never use varnish again, which explains why a lot of his paintings have vanished. It is only thanks to Joseph Ravaisou's son that some paintings are still there to be seen."
Here is a work I found of his online but there really doesn't seem to be much but certainly an interesting artist.
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| "Le Duel" by Achille Emperaire |
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Pierre Bonnard's "La Femme au chat"
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Pierre Bonnard's "Le Chat Blanc"
I actually didn't see it in person but it's adorable so I added it to the blog |
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Pierre Bonnard's "Le Corsage Curreaux" - He clearly liked cats
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Renoir's "Claude Monet"
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Edourd Vuillard's "Mademoiselle Jacqueline Fontaine"
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| Van Gogh's "Starry Nights" |
From there I walked around the neighborhood and enjoyed all the architecture. I came to a small park with lots of kids enjoying the large walkway and playing ball. Behind the park was the Basilica of St. Clotilde.
"Construction of the church was first mooted by the Paris City Council on February 16, 1827. It was designed by architect F. C. Gau of Cologne in a neo-Gothic style. Work began in 1846, but Gau died in 1853, and the job was continued by Théodore Ballu who completed the church in 1857. It was opened on 30 November 1857 by Cardinal Morlot. The church was declared a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1896."
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| Basilica of St. Clotilde. |
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| Basilica of St. Clotilde. |
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| Basilica of St. Clotilde. |
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| Basilica of St. Clotilde |
I had sushi for dinner just around the corner from the Eiffel Tower and then walked to the river to catch the Bateaux Mouche evening river cruise so I could see the Eiffel all sparkly which happens at dark which is now close to 10:00pm and the boat is always a perfect way to enjoy the evening in Paris especially when you've walked about 6 hours and your feet are feeling a bit achy. I enjoyed an hour in their warm waiting room and had a good book to keep me busy when I wasn't watching people or the architecture
all along the river banks.
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| Warm waiting room at the boat dock |
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| River Boat Cruise |
The boat takes about an hour and gives a great commentary on what you're passing and the boat was completely packed mostly with Asian and Spanish tour groups. I counted 17 huge buses parked outside the dock when I was walking down the gang plank to the boat.
What a wonderful evening despite the chill as the sky had started to clear of clouds and the Eiffel Tower was in perfect form for photographing. She glittered beautiful at 10:00pm on the dot and just as we arrived back to port but fortunately the Bateaux Mouche docks are directly across the river from the Tower so the views were spectacular.
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| View from the Boat to the Musee d'Orsay |
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| Musee d'Orsay |
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| Blurry but still pretty |
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| View of Notre Dame Cathedral |
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| Musee d'Orsay |
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| Eiffel Tower sparkling |
I took the metro back to my hotel and was happily and warmly in my room pretty quickly. What an amazing day and I have all day tomorrow to enjoy the city as well before taking the over night sleeper train to Barcelona to meet my mom for our cruise.
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| Still Sparkling |
