laid-back Tuesday

On Tuesday, we followed a very laid-back schedule. We decided to go to the Musée Marmottan, a smallish museum in the 16th arrondissement which is a former private residence (read: mansion) and houses a large collection of Monet's paintings. It's a lovely museum and doesn't get a lot of tourist traffic, both of which have great appeal.

{Photo by Jill}

Lucas didn't want to go with us, so we left him at home and took Max and Eva with us. Eva fell asleep on the way (sweet mercy!) and so we meandered to the museum in peace and quiet. We passed a small park that had a monument to La Fontaine (writer of French fables).

This illustrates Le Corbeau et Le Renard (where the fox flatters the bird by praising her singing voice and, when she starts to show it off, snatches the cheese that drops from her beak).

Will I ever tire of architectural details? I think not.

Sadly, photos were not allowed in the museum. We were disappointed, but after checking our purses and coats, we decided it was liberating and we could look and walk around unencumbered.

We asked ourselves questions, such as:

How in the world was Monet so very prolific?
Did he paint very fast or was he just dogged in his work?
Did his wife or friends ever wish he would stop painting water lilies?
How can an artist exhibit so many techniques and styles across a body of work?
How cool would it be to be friends with Manet and have him paint your portrait?
Why do we never hear about Berthe Morisot, a female painter who was one of Monet's contemporaries? (We saw some of her work and decided we were fans.)

After leaving the museum, we went to a nearby park, which is how I bribed Eva to accompany us to the museum in the first place. She was in heaven, and so were we. It was a beautiful day, pleasantly cool, and we had a great bench to settle into.

Jill wrote postcards. I read some more of The Count of Monte Cristo on my ipod. Max played with Eva.

She invented a game where she prances around and does "karate" with Max.

I am smitten with this photo of Jill.

On our way home, we spotted this cafe with silver chairs, lavender tables, and lovely upholstered chairs to coordinate indoors!

Max was so good to play with Eva, hold her, calm her, etc. We all got pastries, but she didn't want any. Seriously, who says that?? (I got a Congolais, which was a pyramid-shaped coconut treat that looked delicious but was not very good and sat like a rock in my stomach.)

I love the interaction of my children.

In all, it was a great day. Not hot, not rushed, and not too much negotiation necessary!