Oh no! Versailles is closed on Mondays. Back up plan immediately implemented: Tay and Matt choose to visit the Dali museum at Monmartre. I’m looking forward to that because I’ve never been out there. The area was settled early on, but grew considerably when it became known that nuns were making local wine, and even more so in the mid-1800s when Napolean III order Hausseman to modernize all of Paris. As a favor, the King doled out much land in the city to Hausseman and his friends, so much of the population had to move out. They headed to Monmartre, where there were no taxes and life was more than a bit baudy. Later, the bohemian lifestyle attracted familiar names such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Van Gogh and Modigliani.
Back to our story: we hit our little pastry shop, then we head out by metro. From the subway, we walked up the hill to the Sacre Coeur. The church:
The view of the city was as spectacular as you might imagine.
We arrive early – artists just setting up for tourists and the day is just getting started. The museum isn’t open, so we duck into a little, exhorbitantly priced cafe for drinks and some cards.
We head into the museum pretty much as soon as it opens and are all blown away. It’s hard to imagine having that kind of vision and not being mad! A few well-known works of art:
and more that I was completely unaware of. Did you know that Dali illustrated books?
That he created drawings of the twelve tribes of Israel for it’s 25th anniversary?
That he was incredibly talented not only with paintings and drawings, but also sculpture and furniture design?
Definitely love the smaller museums and have an infinitely greater appreciation for the talent of that genius.
On the way back to the subway, we viewed the famous Moulin Rouge, kinda pitiful amongst all the buildings that have risen around it. Oh, well.
Back to hotel to pick up bags and board the TGV (train a grand vitesse)
to land in Marseille only 3 hours later. Then a local and we’re in Aix-en-Provence. A little lost, we find the real estate office and get a ride to out apartment. Funky, but an easy walk to the old part of town, with all the shops and restaurants. We head out for a bite, walking through crooked, narrow streets, Michael and I leading looking for a good spot, and Matt and Tay discussing the looks of their peers. No lack of targets, as every place is full and conversation and laughter all around. The streets are busy and the beautiful old buildings set a stage for the action that is finished off with lovely fountains in every little square. We’ve arrived!