Refuge from Rain in the Jacquemart-Andre

Friday, September 28. Forecast for the next week is mostly rain: today 90% chance of rain, the rest of the week between 30% and 60%. Only a couple of days where the sun might be out at all. So it's indoor entertainment week!

Today it's the Musee Jacquemart-Andre where I spend the entire afternoon, either in the museum itself, in its cafe or in its bookshop. The back-story to this place is that Edouard Andre (1833-1864) was the heir of a banking family who, after a stint in the military and in politics, decided to devote himself to his art collection. Nelie Jacquemart (1841-1912) was from a family of modest background who became a portrait painter for the "high-society" (not a mean feat for a woman at that time).

In 1868, Edouard Andre commissioned the architect Henri Parent to design a hotel particulier of grand proportions on the Blvd Haussmann. (Side bar: Henri Parent came in second to Charles Garnier in the competition to design the Paris opera, proving once again that close doesn't count except in horseshoes and tiddly-winks.) This Second Empire palace was his home and now houses the Musee Jacquemart-Andre.

Despite the fact that Edouard had already had his bust sculpted by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux and his portrait painted by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, Nelie Jacquemart painted his portrait in 1872. The "official" story is that he commissioned the painting, they fell in love and got married. However, I spent some time in the book shop reading his biography, and it seems most likely that she asked to paint his portrait. In any event, they did not get married until 1881, almost ten years later. So was this a "coup de coeur" or was she an opportunist? Either way, they spent a lot of time in Italy and amassed quite an art collection.

There are a number of lovely paintings here, in particular by Chardin, Canaletto, Guardi (gouache on paper!), a wonderful Rembrant of the Disciples at Emmaus, a brooding Ruysdael landscape. There are also a lot of Venetian school paintings, ceilings and frescos (Tiepolo, Tintoretto etc). The house is filled with furniture and furnishings acquired during their travels so it's quite the showplace for the decorative arts. I loved a case filled with Italian faience from the 1500s (from Urbino, Gubbio and Deruta). The atelier is essentially a sculpture gallery of more than 200 bas-reliefs and other from Florence (Della Robia and Donatello, among others). There's a lovely "winter garden" room at the bottom of the fairy-tale-like double staircase.

There's a portrait here by the 18th/19th century painter, Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun, with whom I was not at all familiar but who apparently was a favorite of Marie Antoinette (before she lost her head, that is). Elizabeth led quite a fascinating life but more on this later.

I decide to have lunch in the little "salon de the" of the museum which is in the actual dining room of the mansion. I'm planning to have just a salad, but while I'm there, it starts to pour, so I have a salad, a glass of wine, some bread, dessert (macaron tarte pistache avec les framboises) and coffee! Then I go to the bookshop where I manage to kill more time by reading some of the books. :)

While I'm in this part of town and since it's not a good day for walking through the Parc Monceau, I decide to continue down the Blvd Haussmann to the "grands magasins," Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. I need something from Clinique and I know I'll be able to find it there. On the way, I stop into a big Monoprix and pick up a few toiletries. I find what I need in Printemps. It continues to rain and by now I'm loaded up with parcels (books from the museum in my backpack, a bag from Monoprix and a bag from Printemps). I'm wearing my raincoat and carrying my umbrella, and I'm tired of slogging around in the rain. There's a metro entrance right outside the Printemps door and I head down the stairs.

At home, I watch the news from 7 to 8, then pop out to pick up a few things at the G20 marche. I love that I can do most of my marketing just a few steps from the door to the building. It takes me all of about 20 minutes to go, shop and return. Because I had a big lunch, I'm having a yogurt for dinner!

Noted on walk today:
-dogs leaving the metro, not on leash, but one with a very serious looking muzzle on his snout. I actually couldn't even tell who they were with but they seemed well trained;
-musicians in the metro: a man playing baritone horn on one of the cars (I think this is interdit but people do it anyway) and another man playing the accordian in one of the tunnels;
-a poster for the L.A. Philharmonic, directed by Esa-Pekka Salonen, performing a number of works by Sibelius at the Salle Pleyel, on November 4,5,6,8;
-another Paul's on the Avenue Franklin Roosevelt;
-Jadis & Gourmande, an amazing chocolatier, with the cutest little mice and rugby footballs in the window. You can also order a "boite message" and they will make all the letters in chocolate to spell out what you want to say (e.g. Je t'aime, ou quelque chose comme ca!)
-while I'm on the Blvd Haussman, I pass the r. Pasquier, site of the Hotel Concortel, where Lyn and I stayed in 1992 with sons John (then 14) and Jed (8).
Pedometer: 7,821 (but, hey, it was raining).