Friday, October 19. I pick up a Velib bike and head off to meet Janet and Debbie at their hotel. There's a lot of traffic (strike continues), but the bus lanes are completely empty (no buses!). Dump the bike right on their street. We walk down Blvd St Germain and pass by a little umbrella shop that I've noticed many times but never gone in. This time we do go in and it is amazing. You will never see anything like this. The shop sells nothing but handmade umbrellas, and they are exquisite. One is black with a pink polka dot lining with Swarovski crystals dangling from the points of the ribs. You can have your umbrella made to order: the outside fabric, the lining fabric and the handle (and what handles they have to choose from!). Of course there's a hefty price to be paid for all this beauty and luxury. :)
Continue down St Germain to the r. Bellechasse and the cafe (Les Deux Musees) that's across from the Musee d'Orsay to have lunch. Janet and I share Assiette de Crudite and Pate de Campagne and a pichet of red wine. Debbie tries the vegetable soup. I then make them walk with me down to the usual, after-lunch crepe stand to have a crepe with creme de marrons!
Musee d'Orsay. We get in line (not long) for tickets and then Janet notices a sign that says the museum is closing early today due to the transportation strike. We decide to go in anyway and it turns out we get the tarif reduit because of the early closing. We head immediately for Niveau 5 and the Impressionists. It's crowded and warm (the typical viewing conditions!) up here but of course it's wonderful to see so many of these paintings again. One of my favorites is the Van Gogh "Noon: Rest from Work," with field hands sleeping against a haystack.
Down to the first floor where I want to show Janet and Debbie the maquette of the Opera quartier that's under the (very think) glass floor, also the scale models of the Opera Garnier itself. We wander back through the sculpture gallery and the rooms off to the sides and to my all-time favorites here, the Manet paintings.
After being shooed out of the museum, we cross river to the Tuileries garden. This weekend there is a big contemporary art show (FIAC: Federation Internationale des Arts Contemporains?) in the Cour Carre of the Louvre along with lots of open air sculpture in the garden. Some is quite amusing, including an iron elephant balancing upside down on his trunk.
We walk to the glass I.M Pei pyramid that is now the entrance to the Louvre. We notice that there is a "Biedermeier" exhibit currently showing that all of us are interested in seeing. There's reduced admission after 6:00 and as it is now 5:30, we decide to spend the time having a cup of tea at the Cafe Marly.
Le Louvre. After going through security clearance and buying our tickets, we find our way to the Biedermeier exhibit (no mean feat in the Louvre). Turns out "Biedermeier" wasn't a real person, but a ficticious name used to describe the furniture and decorative arts from this period (1815-1848). It's a lovely exhibit though small. Since we are close by, we make our way to the Winged Victory, and then into the galleries of Italian painting. There are some lovely Botticellis and da Vincis (other than the Mona Lisa, which as usual has a huge crowd standing around it).
We leave the Louvre, walk through the Cour Carre and across the Pont des Arts. Find a small cafe in which to have dinner (everyone is tired) which is only OK. Home.
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