Friday flânerie, part I

*Jill left early Monday morning. Already it almost doesn't seem real. Good thing I still have some catch-up blogging to do!!*

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Friday was a perfect day.

First, we decided to go to the Musée d'Orsay.

Two accordion players on the metro! Usually I am annoyed by musicians on the metro (particularly the karaoke singers, they're the very worst). Everyone either has a book or headphones or is carrying on a conversation and is obviously not wanting to hear the "music" of someone else's choice (and quite often the music is questionable). But I make an exception for accordion players. That just seems authentic.

We passed this shop window for dandies. I don't know any American men who could wear this ensemble without feeling that their masculinity was in question. That doesn't seem to be an issue for French men! (I can't get over the layering of a shirt, tie, sweater, blazer, scarf, and coat. I'd have to be in Siberia to wear all that!)

Someone thought it was a good idea to name a boutique Smuggler. Do you think something was lost in translation?

I don't think I could love the museum's logo more. Of course, it helps that it's also my initials!

Musée d'Orsay self-portrait

Hooray! We saw an artist at work. That always feels like a special museum treat to me. While I know that only a select few artists are granted permission to make reproductions in the museums, the question remains: what happens to those paintings? Are they sold as reproductions or kept in the artist's personal collection? As Jill said, we have so many more questions than answers.

The super-ornate M'O clock.

I enjoy the architecture of the museum as much as the works of art, and love that someone had the vision to make something so great out of this train station.

We went through the new art nouveau exhibit and were heartily disappointed. I wasn't a big fan of art nouveau before, and that clinched it. (I wasn't even sad that photos were not allowed, if that tells you anything.)

We kept running into this field trip of children who looked to be about kindergarten age. They were so cute and so well-behaved, I was smitten.

We weren't clear on what this room was, it seemed to be a ballroom of sorts.

Marc recently bought a photography book all about people reading. I looooved the idea. Of course I started seeing people reading in the paintings, such a happy sight.

and writing!

This Degas sculpture is one of my all-time favorite things. It is so beautiful, and I think the way he combined fabric with the bronze is pure genius. It's very hard to photograph as it is always surrounded by admirers.

Still, I found this shot with the girl in the background kind of cool. Maybe she'll be dancer someday.

This Caillebotte is another one of my favorites.

Every time I see this painting, I am impressed anew. It has so much movement.

Is it wrong that I'm drawn to food even in painting?

The windows provide good views here as well (note the Louvre across the river).

Jill and I had several discussions about artists. How do they do it? How do they paint those (sometimes) giant canvases without losing the perspective of the whole? How do they come up with so many new techniques? How do they use so many colors to express what they see? This Van Gogh self-portrait is a perfect example -- I just know I would not use those colors if I were painting a face -- but yet it works. Jill said she is convinced that they just see things differently, and I am inclined to agree.

The low point of the day was lunch. We had spent so much time in the museum that we were famished, and decided to sit at one of the museum cafés. The food was definitely sub-par. But the setting was sublime, so we didn't mind all that much. (Okay, so better food would have improved the day somewhat, but only a little.)

We thought these waffles with ice cream and chocolate sauce would redeem the bad lunch, but sadly, they weren't that good either. Looks can be deceiving! A recommendation: if you ever go to the Musée d'Orsay, eat before or after. Stick with hot chocolate if you want to sit down within the museum. Trust me on this.

These just make me happy.

We had to agree that walking on the glass bridge was a bit disconcerting, but I love looking up at others walking by.

Although we didn't see all of the museum, we finally decided to move on. You can only do museums for so long before you start to burn out.