Okay, no more getting out around noontime…we lose too much of the day that way. Set an alarm for 7:45, but when it went off, I asked Valerie was she sure it wasn’t really 5:45??? Hustled out and over to the Louvre. Went in to check out the big 3: Venus de Milo, Mona Lisa, and Winged Victory, which was definitely the most impressive of the three. Looking at this iconic representation of woman, and how her name has become synonymous with beauty, I did long for the days when a figure like hers was considered the ideal…
Walked out west from the museum and took a few minutes to sit in some excellently angled (back) chairs and enjoyed the sunshine, the ducks and the beautiful fountain for a few moments. All the while in view of the Eiffel Tower; the Place de la Concorde with its Egypian obelisk and the Arc de Triomphe. Took a picture of the view to put on my desk for the perfect daydream escape!
Time to push on once again…Next stop: L’Orangerie, which was once a battle depot, and now a most exquisite impressionist museum. It is a long, but narrow building, and the lower floor has a long, wide walkway that is parallel to a number of smaller rooms, each featuring one or two artists. Makes for a very intimate viewing experience. I started down the narrow, long room, and gasped as the first dozen or so were Renoirs…followed by Cezanne, Gauguin, and on and on. The smaller rooms were a delight and often required taking a seat to just be among all of the beauty and different perspectives and visions of talented men through the 19th century. Valerie asked which one I’d pick to hang over my bed. There was one Renoir of a nude by the river that was nice, but nothing really struck me like my two favorite Renoirs in the Art Institute in Chicago.
In the special exhibit room was a retrospective of the photographer Heinrich Kuhn, who developed (no pun intended) a different way to take and process his pictures to try and capture the softer focus which is a more accurate reflection of how the human eye sees.
Next we walked upstairs to the Monet Water lily installation, designed by the great painter himself as a gift to the city of Paris to provide a place of peace and escape from the hustle bustle of frantic city life. First you walk into a round room that is completely white, providing a transition from the outside world into his sanctum of nature. Two oval rooms followed, each with 4 incredibly large paintings of lilies at different times of the day, and the varying light patterns that result. The first room was lilies only, the second had willow trees and their reflections in the lily ponds. Here’s the picture I want over my bed:
But just so you can really get some idea of the size of these immense works of art:
Aaaaah! The great man was indeed brilliant because we all felt our souls soothed and so peaceful when we walked out. And, oh my, is it time to eat again? We walked through Place de la Concorde and the Egyptian obelisk over to the very famous Fauchon. Started in the 1800s as a chocolate shop, it has undergone many changes in ownership but never lost its mystique. We perused the carry-out delicacies and then decided to head across the street and upstairs to their cafe for a real sit-down repast. We even made some Parisians smile when we squealed with delight when our lunch came with foam…
Descended the stairs and walked through the tea and chocolate offerings, then, fully refueled, hit the streets to find the Annick Goutal store to pick up some french perfume. Le Muguet was the winner for both Valerie and I. We’ll have to co-ordinate scents whenever together! I had read that the St. Germain neighborhood had some of the best shopping in town, and my badass self was in no way prepared for the variety, uniqueness and abundance of shoe and clothing shops down every street. Really, I’ve never experienced anything like it. Stumbled into the Lilith shop, a label that Knit Wit here in Boulder has just started carrying (but one that Stacey, of course, wore years ago!). Encountered my first and only true snobby french attitude and women dressed to the 9s in styling, unusual combinations that we agreed was “so french”.
I was temporarily taken over by a fever for a pair of boots I saw that were quite expensive. Couldn’t justify doing it, but it did take me about an hour to lose the obsession. In the meanwhile, we found the store of the baker who supposedly made the best macaroons in the city. Not really macaroons like I think of them, but beautiful little sandwiches of varying flavors (and colors) with a french version of buttery icing between the two sides. I tried a vanilla one and it was way too sweet for me. But aren’t they pretty?
Found Cotelac, another favorite brand Knit Wit introduced me to, and made a couple of purchases. It was endless, and one store, Indies, had the most stylish, unusual, beautiful clothes that so appealed to me – I could have bought half of the store if I lived in Paris or was an executive in NYC – but just smiled and enjoyed their quality before walking out. Picked up gifts for my loved ones and our feet had started barking by this point. We wanted to find the second patisserie we’d stumbled into and were walking the streets trying to remember where it was. Here’s a sight you could have seen often, that day and every other:
The map went everywhere with us and was consulted OFTEN. Finally, after so much walking (going on 8 hours now), we were standing on the corner of Boulevard St. Germain and Place de l’Odeon and I declared it was time to lay our burden down and regroup. So we sat right where we were and indulged in wine, onion soup, hot tea (I was desperately fighting and oncoming cold and losing the battle), cheese and baguettes. We had a delightful waiter named Oliver, who snapped our picture:
An incredibly noisy corner, but great for people watching. It suddenly occurred to me that I had neglected to document some of the fashionable citizens of the city. Kind of awkward to take a picture of someone full on (I know I would feel weird if someone snapped one of me), so I got only a few, and definitely not the incredibly good-looking couple that walked by and snapped a picture of us for us.
It definitely loses something in the translation, and I will admit to being surprised by how few stylish dressers we saw, but we did have about a dozen: “did you see that one?” or “check out the women coming down now!”. Anyway, as we finished our meal, Nikki asked Oliver about the shop we were looking for and he pointed us down and to the right, and sure enough, there it was. Want to see what dragged us back?
Well then. Time to go home. Not too long of a walk, but by the time we groaned and lowered ourselves onto our beds, it was 8 pm, a looooong 11-hour art, shopping and walking marathon. No way was I getting out of my bed for anything! Valerie and Nikki were gracious enough to walk down to our duck restaurant (after I ordered by phone in french) and pick dinner up. Ate in the room and played a couple of games of mahjong before passing out.
