Saturday May 5, 2018 posting April 22 to April 26
Sunday April 22 Paris,
The Louvre
We took the “local train” from Le Mans to Paris Mountparnasse (10 stops) because the express train (half the time) left too early. We bought our weekly Navigo Passes at the train station; this pass allows unlimited travel on buses, the Metro, and the RER train to Versailles. Then we walked about 15 minutes to our hotel. Google Maps is great, but the walking directions can be a struggle. We checked in and Sue unpacked. It was still only about 2PM, so we decided to go to the Louvre. We went on Sunday because all of the rooms are open, on other days some rooms are closed. We caught a bus right outside the hotel that took us right to the Louvre. We bought our Museum Passes at the Louvre and then set out to hunt down our paintings. The Louvre is great, but it is big. The building has three wings, it is horseshoe shaped, and it isn’t straight forward to go from wing to wing. We (mostly me) had 29 paintings on various lists to see that were on display. They were located in all three wings on two different levels. As usual we found there were six paintings that were listed as being on display when I checked at the end of February that were no longer on display, but we did have 23 we needed to see, and this included the last 1001 painting at the Louvre that we had not seen. We didn’t see them all today, but most of them. Then we took the same bus back to our hotel. We had dinner at the Bier Academy which was a short walk from our hotel. It is beer heaven. They have a bunch of Belgian beer on tap and page after page of bottled Belgian beer. They also have French and German beer. Sue and I split a plate of sausages with frits. We went for the Belgian beer, but the cooking is French, and that is a great combination. It is actually a pretty small place with plain wooden tables and benches. We would be back.
We took the “local train” from Le Mans to Paris Mountparnasse (10 stops) because the express train (half the time) left too early. We bought our weekly Navigo Passes at the train station; this pass allows unlimited travel on buses, the Metro, and the RER train to Versailles. Then we walked about 15 minutes to our hotel. Google Maps is great, but the walking directions can be a struggle. We checked in and Sue unpacked. It was still only about 2PM, so we decided to go to the Louvre. We went on Sunday because all of the rooms are open, on other days some rooms are closed. We caught a bus right outside the hotel that took us right to the Louvre. We bought our Museum Passes at the Louvre and then set out to hunt down our paintings. The Louvre is great, but it is big. The building has three wings, it is horseshoe shaped, and it isn’t straight forward to go from wing to wing. We (mostly me) had 29 paintings on various lists to see that were on display. They were located in all three wings on two different levels. As usual we found there were six paintings that were listed as being on display when I checked at the end of February that were no longer on display, but we did have 23 we needed to see, and this included the last 1001 painting at the Louvre that we had not seen. We didn’t see them all today, but most of them. Then we took the same bus back to our hotel. We had dinner at the Bier Academy which was a short walk from our hotel. It is beer heaven. They have a bunch of Belgian beer on tap and page after page of bottled Belgian beer. They also have French and German beer. Sue and I split a plate of sausages with frits. We went for the Belgian beer, but the cooking is French, and that is a great combination. It is actually a pretty small place with plain wooden tables and benches. We would be back.
I had emailed Versailles to find out if the Louis XIV rooms
would be open this week, because our travel card and museum pass would cover
the train and entry fee to the Palace. Their
reply said that I could call the day before a visit to find out which rooms
would be closed. Versailles is closed on
Mondays, so I’ll call Monday to see if are 1001 painting will be on display
Monday April 23 Paris
The Louvre & Pompidou
I called Versailles before we started out to see if our painting would be on display, the rooms were still closed. We decided not to check anymore, but that we would visit another time.
I called Versailles before we started out to see if our painting would be on display, the rooms were still closed. We decided not to check anymore, but that we would visit another time.
We started out again at the Louvre to see that last 1001
painting there that we hadn’t seen, plus a lot more. We found our painting: The Fortune Teller by
Lucas van Leyden. Then we were off to see
another Oldenburg giant sculpture: Buried Bicycle” in a park on the north side
of Paris. We have seen quite a few of
his outdoor sculptures, and museum pieces.
I guess I’ll have to start another spreadsheet.
Then we were off to the Pompidou Center. As I am sure that I’ve mentioned before (Jude
helpfully points out to me that I repeat myself a lot) our quest for paintings
has increased our appreciation of modern and contemporary art. Not all of it, but a lot of it. I will add that the modern and contemporary
artists in the 1001 book are well represented in every modern art museum we’ve
visited. This means of course that I
have to take more photos, but I did try to restrain myself this time. We found the 1001 painting. We have seen 9 of 17 at the Pompidoou. I asked the information desk about another
painting that the web site this morning listed a 1001 painting as being on
Level 5 (the main exhibition floor) but did not list a room number. He said that painting had just been taken
down; they change paintings frequently.
I was hoping it was still on display.
We had done enough today, so we headed back to the Montparnasse
to get a beer. This area is full of hotels,
restaurants, and bars. The intersection
next to our hotel has a big restaurant on each corner. The weather was warm so we picked the one
with outdoor tables. We ordered two
large and they came with three bowls of peanuts, Pistachios, and olives; it
doesn’t get much better than this. We
sat there quite a while just watching people go by, and the waiter; he was in
constant motion, straitening tables and chairs, greeting regulars, taking
orders, rinse and repeat. Later that
evening we went to an Italian restaurant across the street from the hotel, and
of course we had a great meal.
Tuesday April 24 Musee
d’Orsay & Pere Lachaise
Today we started at the Musee d’Orsay. This museum has paintings by artists that most people have heard of: Manet, Monet, Renoir, Whistler, van Gogh, etc. That was true for us at least, and therefore there are many familiar paintings on display. This is the same story as the Pompidou, when we started our trip there were two 1001 paintings on display, but by the time we got to Paris only one was on display. After finding our 1001 painting we went to Pere Laichaise to find Jim Morrison’s grave.
Today we started at the Musee d’Orsay. This museum has paintings by artists that most people have heard of: Manet, Monet, Renoir, Whistler, van Gogh, etc. That was true for us at least, and therefore there are many familiar paintings on display. This is the same story as the Pompidou, when we started our trip there were two 1001 paintings on display, but by the time we got to Paris only one was on display. After finding our 1001 painting we went to Pere Laichaise to find Jim Morrison’s grave.
We took the bus to the North side
of the cemetery because it is basically downhill from there through the cemetery. As I mentioned earlier I had downloaded a map
of the cemetery that turned out to have a few problems. We found quite a few graves, but had to roam
about a bit to find them, and ask others if we were close to various graves. After trooping up and down looking for graves
we called it a day. We went back to our
now favorite corner café for more beer and snacks.
Tonight’s dinner was across the
street from our beer and snacks café.
Sue had read the menu on one of walks and they had a Bouillabaisse special
for two. It was very good, but we
misread the special price for two, so it actually cost twice what we originally
thought, but hey we are still on Sue’s Birthday trip. After dinner we walked a few blocks to an
Amorino for gellato, a great way to end the day.
Wednesday April 25 Arts & Metiers Museum – Picasso Museum –
Louvre – Eiffel Tower
The daughter and son-law of Sue’s friend, Helen had raved about this museum when they visited Paris, so off we went. Wikipedia says it is an Industrial Design museum. I would call it a history of technology museum. Whatever it is called, it is right up my alley. It has some really neat stuff, but it probably isn’t for everyone.
The daughter and son-law of Sue’s friend, Helen had raved about this museum when they visited Paris, so off we went. Wikipedia says it is an Industrial Design museum. I would call it a history of technology museum. Whatever it is called, it is right up my alley. It has some really neat stuff, but it probably isn’t for everyone.
Next up was the Picasso
Museum. We went with the unrealistic
hope that a 1001 Picasso that is in a Private Collection might be on display,
it wasn’t. As you might guess from the
album, I’m not a big fan.
The bus we took home went right by
the Louvre (good old 68), so I got off to go see if the 1001 Egyptian
sarcophagus portrait painting might be on display, it wasn’t. I took photos of the six that were. I also went into the Mono Lisa room to get a
photo. Then I took the 68 bus home. We went to dinner at our corner café thinking
that we would have a couple of sandwiches.
The tables outside get sandwiches, inside you get French cooking. The food was delicious.
We decided to go see the Eiffel
Tower sparkle at 10PM. We caught the 95
bus right outside our corner café and it drops us off on the west side of the
tower. Our hotel location is great. We walked over to the Trocadero that is
across the Seine from the tower to view the show. You can see from the photos that we were
there in plenty of time. We have seen
this before, but it is always fun.
Thursday April 26 Pere Lachaise—Notre Dame – Arch d’Triomphe
We went back to Pere Lachaise to find Jim Morrison’s grave. This time I got a map from the cemetery’s office. On the way to Jim’s we came across an elaborate tomb. The tomb of Heloise and Abelard is listed on the map, but we of course didn’t know anything about them. They are a legendary French couple. I’ve posted a link to a web page that tells their sad, romantic story. We found Jim’s grave, and a few more.
We went back to Pere Lachaise to find Jim Morrison’s grave. This time I got a map from the cemetery’s office. On the way to Jim’s we came across an elaborate tomb. The tomb of Heloise and Abelard is listed on the map, but we of course didn’t know anything about them. They are a legendary French couple. I’ve posted a link to a web page that tells their sad, romantic story. We found Jim’s grave, and a few more.
Our next stop was Notre-Dame, Sue
had to light a candle. It is always an
impressive site, and a neat place to visit.
Our last stop was at the Arch d’Triomphe. From the top there are great views of the
city.
Our last night in Paris we went
back to the Bier Academy. We are easy to
please, but the beer is great and we split mussels and frits. Tomorrow it is back to London
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