Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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The Orsay Museum is undergoing some renovations, and so a number of its important Impressionist paintings have been loaned out. Some are included in a free exhibition at the Paris city hall until the end of July. We made that show our main goal for yesterday’s wanderings. Starting with a métro ride to the Maubert-Mutualité station on the line 10, we strolled up the quaint, ancient rue Bièvre to the Seine, then crossed the oldest parts of the city, the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint Louis, coming out via the Pont Louis Philippe on the right bank just about where we were the day before when we had Sunday dinner at the Café Louis Philippe. After snaking our way through the smaller streets over to city hall’s back entrance, we were not surprised to see a fairly long line of people waiting to see the exhibition. The weather was perfect, so we didn’t mind joining them to wait patiently. There are always people to watch, passers-by on the sidewalk and important-looking men coming out of city hall, that make for good entertainment while waiting. The show was good – it combined the important paintings with other images of and information about Paris the way it was at the time that the Impressionists were creating their works. The narrative contained much historical information about what was happening at the time. The city did provide a simple leaflet in English, but we were very happy to be able to read all the displays’ disquisitions in French, because there was so much more of interest there. Besides the free admission, the show also offered an opportunity to see some of these most important paintings in a somewhat less crowded environment – although it was crowded. It just was not insanely crowded, as the Orsay Museum can be. After the show, we went around to see the Ephemeral Garden thing in front of city hall. People were standing in line to take photos like the last one in the link above! Not me. If you want to see what this strange thing looks like, click on the link above. After seeing that oddity, we went on to a favorite place, the Tour Saint Jacques, where we discovered a special exhibit by videographer Gabriel Diaz. From a selected six sections of the Medieval Saint Jacques pilgrimage route, he took a photograph every 11 steps, then put the photos together to form a video. The show is called “On the Road to Compostella.” It took Diaz 6 years to walk the 5,000 kilometers and put this show together. We wandered through the little streets again until we reached the Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris, even though its name means “New Bridge.” Then we rested for a while at a little table on the terrace at Le Bar au Caveau, on the Place Dauphine of the Île de la Cité. There Tom ordered a sinfully rich gateau au chocolat, and I had a refreshing glass of Sancerre blanc. Refreshed & refueled, we were ready to move on toward home. Dinner time arrived before we reached home, so we decided to stop along the way. We selected La Gitane on the avenue de la Motte Picquet because I was in the mood for aile de raie (skate, or ray), which is served at La Gitane in a sauce acidulée which is made with clarified butter and lemon juice with herbs. It was heavenly. Funny, ray sounds like something a picky eater would not want to try, but in reality, it is one of the mildest, most delicate fishes you can consume. The ray came with a generous side dish of expertly prepared spinach, which I adore. Tom ordered the duck breast, which came with delicious sautéed potatoes. Nevertheless, he also ordered a side of fries, because these are a house specialty at La Gitane. The wine special was a glass of very light, dry rosé from Corsica. I’ve recently discovered that my preferred rosé is that which comes from Corsica. I bought some at the Monop recently. As usual, we were treated very well at La Gitane. The proprietor brought our check to us, and he took a particular interest in asking us about ourselves, even though the restaurant was quite busy by then. Earlier, an English-speaking foursome (two American, two British) had entered the restaurant, were seated, and then left in a huff because although they (or at least, the British woman) could read the prix fixe menu card posted for the special Quatorze Juillet dinner, they could not read and understand that it was the special Quatorze Juillet dinner, not the nightly special. I don’t understand why they didn’t understand until it was explained to them by our kind server, but they surely did not need to leave in a huff over that. I was embarrassed for all my fellow English speakers. Nevertheless, we left the resto feeling like we’d just consumed another perfect dinner and that we’d been treated very well indeed. Today, thank heavens, it is raining and so I do not have to water the many plants on the balcony. Goodness! Thunder and lightening! A rare occurrence in Paris, and an everday occurrence at this time of year in Florida. Sign
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Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Decoration on the Pont Alexandre
III. Skies have been cloudy, but we’re
enjoying the cool weather and the bits of rain here and there.
Statue with pigeon at the Trocadero.
Lovely cobblestoned lane in the Passy Cemetery. |
