Musée Rodin

During our last week in Paris, Max and I went to the Musée Rodin. It's one of my favorite places in the city, and I hadn't been there yet! Max grabbed an umbrella as we were leaving, and it was a good thing because we ended up needing it.

It's funny, you can't tell in this picture, but it was raining buckets. That's probably the only reason The Thinker wasn't surrounded by people.

Max had read that the beauty of The Thinker is that his pondering is evident not only in his pose but in the details - in the muscles in his back; that his whole body is straining with the weight of his struggles. I studied it more carefully this time and had to agree.

The Cathedral is probably my favorite of his works. I think Rodin made amazing hands and this one especially moves me.

A museum guard was sitting on the sill of an open window, so there was no getting a picture without people. Still, since it was positively steamy in there, I couldn't blame him, and in fact was very pleased that he had the window open!

The Kiss is another favorite. When you see it from the front, it looks like the couple is sitting on the stone, but when you see it from behind, you can see them emerging from the stone. Just another reminder of the amazing work that sculptors do. 

(Of course, there were 3 groups of kids on field trips!)

This is a bust that Rodin did of Victor Hugo. He inscribed "To the Illustrious Master" on it.

I hadn't seen this painting before - a rendering of The Thinker by Munch (from Rodin's personal art collection).

I think it's interesting that they call preliminary works by sculptors "sketches." Here, sketches of hands and of Balzac.

I can't remember what this one is called, but it's a hand emerging from a grave.

We had decided to go inside the museum first and hope that the rain would abate, but when we went back to the gardens, it was raining even harder! I was disappointed because I love wandering through the gardens.

Still, I had to go see The Burghers of Calais.

Again, Max had read about it and what he told me helped me to gain a greater appreciation of the work.

From Wikipedia:

England's Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, laid siege to Calais, while Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege, and starvation eventually forced the city to parley for surrender.

Edward offered to spare the people of the city if any six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded that they walk out wearing nooses around their necks, and carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first, and five other burghers joined with him.^[2]Saint Pierre led this envoy of volunteers to the city gates. It was this moment, and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice, and willingness to face imminent death that Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life.

Although the burghers expected to be executed, their lives were spared by the intervention of England's queen, Philippa of Hainault, who persuaded her husband to exercise mercy by claiming that their deaths would be a bad omen for her unborn child.

Rodin's design was controversial. The public had a lack of appreciation for it because it didn't have "overtly heroic antique references" which were considered integral to public sculpture.^[4] It was not a pyramidal arrangement and contained no allegorical figures. It was intended to be placed at ground level, rather than on a pedestal. The burghers were not presented in a positive image of glory; instead, they display "pain, anguish and fatalism". To Rodin, this was nevertheless heroic, the heroism of self-sacrifice.^[5]

In 1895 the monument was installed in Calais on a large pedestal in front of a Parc Richelieu, a public park, contrary to the sculptor's wishes, who wanted contemporary townsfolk to "almost bump into" the figures and feel solidarity with them. Only later was his vision realised, as in 1926 the sculpture was moved in front of the newly completed town hall of Calais, where it rests on a much lower base.

La Porte de l'Enfer (The Gates of Hell) - based on Dante's Inferno. Rodin worked on it on and off for 37 years!

This is one of my favorite views. Even if that tree does need a haircut...

The museum was hosting an exhibit comparing Mapplethorpe works with Rodin works. You wouldn't think that would work, but it was actually quite effective. I didn't take any photos there, for obvious reasons :).

Pokemon store

Toward the end of our visit, it became harder and harder to lure Eva out of the apartment. I read about a Pokemon pop-up store and gallery, and figured it would be just the thing to do it. Success!

We saw this tile art of the Mona Lisa on our way. Usually we see space invaders or Pac Man figures. This one tickled me with its originality.

We passed by the Bourse (financial center). I realized that this is an area I rarely see.

I don't know why I was surprised, but we had to wait in line for about 25 minutes to get in. And it was raining.

I only convinced her to pose with the giant inflatable Pokemon by telling her that Rose and Jacob, her fellow Pokemon-obsessed friends, would appreciate it. She agreed to do it for Rose and Jacob.

I thought the store/gallery ended up being pretty stupid, since they were 100% sold out of all their merchandise and the gallery was tiny, but Eva didn't seem disappointed.

The gallery was in the basement, where you'd think it might be cooler. Instead, it was like a sauna. I lasted for about five minutes and then had to escape to the upstairs level where at least there was a fan.

There was a wall where visitors' Pokemon drawings were posted. As you can see, Pikachu was by far the most popular. Eva scoffed at that.

I found it interesting that there were far more adults than children visiting. Mostly young adults, but older ones, too. I guess you never outgrow your love of Pokemon.

Eva got to work doing her own non-Pikachu drawings. Lucas was thrilled.

But then Max and Lucas decided to color one to pass the time.

Her masterpieces: signed, dated, and left for the wall of fame.

On our way home, I took one of my favorite photos from our time in Paris, which made it all worth it for me. That and the fact that we all made it out of the apartment!

Napoleon's tomb

After visiting the Musée de l'Armée, we walked around to view Napoleon's tomb, which, strangely, I don't think I had ever seen before.

The last time we were here, my boys visited the tomb with their Aunt Michelle and Nicole and Kristen. Michelle's sunglasses fell as she leaned over, crashing down below. We took a moment to laugh about that (she can laugh about it now, too).

looking up at the dome of Les Invalides

I am utterly in love with this window.

the tomb from the lower level

one of the many statues flanking the tomb

This photo does not even begin to show how tall these doors are. 

a rare self-portrait with the kids - and everyone is smiling!!

I always love the cone trees.

After a successful outing, we made our way home. 

Musée de l'Armée

Lucas wanted to go to the Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides, so off we went. I enjoy that, when we go places in Paris, I can remember taking Max there as a little boy, then young Max and Lucas, then the boys when older with a tiny Eva in tow, and my children as they are now. There are memories embedded in the different places we go, and I feel like the memory-keeper, since in many cases, my children were too young to really remember. But I digress...

This museum is chock full of armor, for both human and horses (and, in one case, dogs) and weaponry. It blows my mind to imagine the weight and awkwardness involved in wearing chain mail and armor. (Not to mention how incredibly hot it must have been in there.)

You can't really see the horse's eye within its fly-eye cage, but it looks terrified. Not that I can blame it.

I know I've taken this photo before, but I just find it fascinating. I don't like guns, and would never own one, but I am fascinated by these shadows.

We were marveling at the amount of detail and ornamentation on both the armor and the weapons. It's interesting that such craftsmanship and beauty went into things designed for battle (and pageantry). Each one of those little cameos on this sword were carved. Unbelievable.

This looks so heavy! And hot. I can't help imagining how oppressively hot I would be if I had to wear it. And then a suit of metal with a helmet covering my face. Shudder.

We were also amazed by the size of the armor. People were definitely smaller in the past! At least French people. And I'm not talking about the child-size armor, which we also saw.

Lucas thought that at least the soldiers would have been big and muscular, but almost all of the suits of armor looked too small to fit him (and he's not a particularly big guy!).

Here's something interesting: the placard next to this bas relief explained that the bird was piercing its heart with its beak and the blood was flowing down to feed the baby birds, to represent the sacrifices parents make for their children. Smotherhood to the max!!

There are windows through which you can see shelves upon shelves of gauntlets, helmets, and other armor parts. Also rifles and spears.

Okay, I feel sorry for the horse that had to wear this! It doesn't even look like it could reach its full stride!

Look at the difference between the part of the building that has been restored vs. the part that hasn't!

Eva chasing pigeons.

They were having a special exhibition on Les Mousquetaires (Musketeers). I loved it.

This sketch captures so much with just a few lines. I wish I could do that!

A Picasso drawing of a Musketeer.

At the end, there were costumes and a sword you could try!

This alone was worth the price of admission.

ménagerie

We had one more lovely day while Bob & Mim were visiting and we decided to let Eva choose an activity. Unsurprisingly, she chose the zoo (the smaller one we hadn't yet visited).

Unfortunately, there was a demonstration that had taken over a bridge and a street, requiring our bus to let us off three stops early. (This is a common occurrence in Paris.) On the plus side, we walked along a pleasant stretch of the Seine, with gardens and sculptures, and... a little outdoor gym! I absolutely couldn't believe it when I saw a group of cardio and weight machines with people working out!

These little kids on a field trip were so cute, and I was dying at the contrast between their size and the tree they were gathered around to eat.

Two red pandas sleeping. I think they look more like raccoons or foxes than pandas, but what do I know?

darling babies

There are three giant tortoises that I remember from when we lived here in 1996. You cannot tell their massive size from this photo, but they are between 100-150 years old.

These birds were cracking us up by swinging from their beaks!

This camel was doing some serious mouth gymnastics to get at the plant outside its fence. Bob and Mim helped it out by pushing it closer.

snow leopard

Eva peering into the nursery at some baby birds.

Max and Lucas helping Eva to see the large, hairy armadillo.

cool display of different eggs

A caracal! We had only ever seen these on Wild Kratts prior to this visit.

I love the little house for the horses!

I had to take a picture of this olivier (olive tree). Obviously.

This is the outside of the monkey house!

Any outing can only be improved by a carousel ride at the end.