If only for the sense of completion, voilà the last two days in Paris:
On Sunday Suzie had arranged to see her French conversation partner and some of his friends for lunch. As the boys were off on their own, this left me with a free afternoon all to myself. I decided to go to the Louvre again, because I love it and still feel after 4 or 5 visits that I’ve seen only a small part of it. On arriving I saw there was an enormous line, a huge line, a line so long that no reasonable person could even consider standing in it, not to mention that if the line was that long, the museum was sure to be even more packed than normal. Then I remembered that the admission to museums in France on the first Sunday of every month was free, which explained the line.
The Louvre being out, I headed for the Pompidou Centre and its collection of modern art. Sure enough, the lines there were very reasonable, the price was right, and the crowds (although more than usual) did not detract from the experience. The museum is very well done, with two levels, one with art from the “early” modern period from 1900 to 1940 or so, and another with art from 1940 on. The former is more to my taste than the latter. Arranged chronologically, and with excellent explanations of the evolution and context of the art, the museum is informative as well as interesting and beautiful. The earlier “modern” pieces look like slightly wild impressionist paintings, like this Matisse:
From there things quickly evolve into wilder and wilder forms — Picasso and cubism and Dali and Miro and on and on and on. As a general rule, the more recent the work, the less I’m likely to really love it, although there are exceptions, which I liked just because I liked them.
Some of the more interesting pieces are sculptures, some beautiful, some funny, some shocking, some all three:
The museum also offers wonderful views of Paris, some of them modern-art-like, some of them more traditionally beautiful.
Another great thing about the Pompidou is that it is a museum in which, unlike most others, small children can actually enjoy themselves. Their candidness is refreshing: Whereas adults will come upon some strange modern piece (like the fox-table above) and look it at with a serious expression, trying to fathom its meaning and what it is trying to say about modern life, small children simply burst out laughing, cackling at the absurdity. Perhaps a more appropriate response.
When I was finished with the 1905-1940 floor, I went down to the more modern area, but unfortunately it looked like it had been taken over by something called Elles@centrepompidou, a retrospective on modern female artists. Now I may get myself in trouble here, but I can count on one had the pieces in this area that I liked. Most were — perhaps understandably — angry, edgy, and in-your-face, designed to provoke and shock. Which is all well and good, I suppose, but frankly, watching a [warning, NSFW!] video of a naked woman injuring herself by using a barbed wire hula-hoop, ça ne me plait pas. And I had to wonder whether in 50, or 100, 0r 200 years, anyone would be interested in seeing most of this work. In any event, I was getting tired of standing, the crowds were thicker in this area, and I was hungry, too, so I decided to leave.
I called Suzie and we met near the Louvre, then decided to explore an area we had seen while returning the rental car the day before, an area in the 17th near the Pereire Metro stop. We decided that this was an area we could live in if we ever move to Paris; it felt like a more upscale and quieter version of the 14th where we’d stayed during our 6 months in Paris. Beautiful buildings, lovely streets and gardens:
After walking around the neighborhood, we had a light dinner at a bistro right on the main plaza, two delicious salads at a reasonable price, then took the Metro home. Thus our Sunday.
Need more coffee now. Will perhaps continue afterwards.
- Le Grand Chassé Croisé de l’Eté = A Change of Plans
- Our Return from Paris: Incompetence, Thug Border Agents, and “Why Do You Live in France?”
Categories: Travel -- France
Tags: Centre Pompidou, elles@pompidou, France, modern art, Paris, Periere