I'm in Paris 2

[rachelmanija]

Forgot to mention that during lunch Paul started going on about how animals shouldn't be kept as pets, but should roam free; halfway through his rant a lady walked in with a mini schnauzer in her handbag, which she proceeded to feed from the table. Every now and then it barked as if to underline one of Paul's points.

Today I set out determinedly to find a Fench cafe to breakfast in, but the one I walked into turned out to be Le Pain Quotidien - a chain we have in LA. Oops. Will try again tomorrow.

Mom and a friend of hers, Judy, went to the Louvre. My favorite things: the Winged Victory of Samothrace, poised as if for take-off atop a flight of stairs and framed in a succession of arches, the gilded jewel-box interior of the Louvre, and a reconstruction of the Assyrian palace of Sargon, with immense stone bulls with wings and human heads. The Mona Lisa, in my philistine opinion, is not one of those works of art which gains a lot from being seen in person rather than in reproduction; that is probably a minority opinion, though, as it was absolutely mobbed.

The Louvre itself is an amazing piece of artchitecture, though the glass pyramid designed by I M Pei, while very nice from inside, is pretty weird from the outside, as if aliens landed for a visit and parked their spaceship.

After that, we went to an amazing pastry shop, where I had a pastry of soft/crisp almond macaron biscuit layered with raspberries and almond cream, and tried mom's chocolate macaron and Judy's pistchio strawberry pastry. Great stuff, worth the high expense.

It's cold and intermittently rainy, overcast; I packed completely wrong and will need to buy a long-sleeved shirt. A chic, Parisian long-sleeved shirt!

Tomorrow: Versailles!

Comments

[laurashapiro]

Art and pastry: two of my favorite things. I am envious of you, but so glad you're sharing!

[ginny_t]

Versailles is beautiful! Will they turn the fountains on while you're there? The fountains are stunning. (Although maybe less so when it's cool/cold and rainy.)

I actually like the juxtaposition of the pyramid and the building. Call me philistine. I much prefer the outside of the Louvre to the inside (except the old 12th-century foundations; those were totally worth the price of admission), but I also loved the Winged Nike. It's beautifully displayed.

[oyceter]

Yay Paris! I too was unimpressed by the Mona Lisa, although I did have a lot of fun seeing the masses of people in front of it and all the security.

[jesuswasbatman]

Le Pain Quotidien is in fact Belgian. Don't knock it though, it is genuinely popular over there.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, so much for our weather check. More pastry reports!

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

If I could shoo away people and just sit and look at the Mona Lisa for a nice long time, I would...but it's impossible. So I didn't try. One of my art history profs grumpily refers to it as a lost work of art, because it's hard to relate to it as a painting anymore.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I managed this once. Well, not the shooing, but I was the only person in the room. (This was on Bastille Day.) It does improve the viewing experience considerably.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

I prefer the Ginevra di Benci in Washington, DC, as well...and she's a little easier to spend quality time with. But I may have to try and hit Paris during Bastille Day and see if I can repeat your trick (...she said airily, as if she swans off to Paris on the regular.)

Were the pastries at Angelinas? That's where I had my Decadent Parisian Pastry experience, along with a cup of the richest hot chocolate I've ever experienced. It came with a tiny pitcher of cream, and I had to exert a lot of willpower not to stuff the tiny pitcher in my purse and run for it, it was so adorable.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

Huh. I have been to the NGA lots of times (I grew up near DC) but I do not recall the Ginevra.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

She's lovely. She stands in the center/back of a small rounded gallery, and she's surrounded by paintings and one sculpture of handsome young men, last time I looked. You can see the back of the work as well.

[tool-of-satan.livejournal.com]

I envy you your pastries.

The Mona Lisa would be much better if it could be hung on the wall like any normal painting. Oh well.

Versailles is tres ongepatchket.

[vonniek.livejournal.com]

You're making me want to go to Paris. I haven't been there in almost 20 years. Pastries...mmm mmmm!

[matt_doyle]

When I was at the Louvre in '04 I had the distinctly surreal experience of being the only person I could see looking at the Mona Lisa -- literally everyone else within my field of view was taking pictures as traffic gradually pressed them from one side of the room to the other

I'm sure some percentage of the people were, and I just don't remember them, seven years later...

But I agree that the painting itself is not any more impressive 'in person.' I found Da Vinci's Madonna of the Rocks absolutely stunning in person, however.

[opheliastorn.livejournal.com]

I'll be in Paris for the first time for my birthday this year - any chance you can remember the name/location of that pastry shop? What you had sounds delicious!

[pameladean]

I felt the same way about the Mona Lisa, but I saw it on a very dark November day, and they weren't giving it much artificial lighting, presumably for purposes of preservation.

I was continually distracted from almost all exhibits by the architecture and ornamentation of the Louvre itself.

P.

[wordkink.livejournal.com]

That all sounds so awesome!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Hooray for Versailles!