Made it to the Monet exhibit

This is a picture by Jacques Demarthon/Agence France-Presse, used to illustrate the critical review in the New York Times. I'm glad I didn't read the review before seeing the show for myself. It's a great review and a great show, but I'm glad I decided it was great on my own. Well, not entirely on my own since Rita also got up before the break of dawn this freezing morning to get the RER and be at the exhibit entrance at 9:00.
There was already quite a line, but since I had that Sésame card, we went in first and didn't have to stop at the cashier's desk. We got rid of our coats and went into the absolutely empty Grand Palais. They weren't empty for long; Rita and I took our time and by the time we were through the first room, the crowd had caught up with us. It wasn't a horde, though, we were able to go at our own speed and look carefully at whatever we wanted to. That brings me back to why I chose this picture; I was most impressed by the many series. 
Back in September, when we went to Rouen with Jackie and Ed, we saw the Impressionists in Rouen exhibit and, of course, the series of the Rouen cathedrale were there. Well, they finished the exhibit in Rouen just in time to make the trip to Paris. Each painting in a series belongs to a different owner -- museums for the most part -- all over the world, so you really don't get to compare the cathedrale, haystack, or parliament paintings. Here, you do. They really did get paintings from all over the world, with the exception of the Marmottan museum in Paris, which has its own Monet exhibit and doesn't want to share. So you get to see the haystacks at different times of the day with colors and shadows more or less intense, or in sunlight or under snow. I just loved the Parliament paintings from the early 1900s. 
Another thing I noticed about Monet is that he doesn't seem to have a signature brush stroke. Each painting is done differently. Reflections on the water are fantastic, but there doesn't seem to be a certain way to get that result; it's all in the color, and there doesn't seem to any right way to do that, either. Sometimes the little people in a painting are really vague tiny splotches, but with a little different color in the middle of the splotch, it's a woman's dress. On the other hand, the details in large paintings with people are exquisite and exact. 
So now, I'm back home. No library today. Anne has kindly taken the afternoon slot for today. She has to stay in town for an evening activity and just preferred staying at the library. I understand her reasoning. It's such a schlep to go back home that the mere idea of schleping back out makes you want to just crawl under the covers and not go. I've had an excellent left-over turkey lunch. It's very cold, but the sun has come out. Rita and I walked up the Champs Elysées from the Grand Palais to the RER station at Etoile and then, of course, I walked home from the Fontenay station. That added to my walk to the station should be enough for today. 
Here is the link to the exhibit again: Monet 2010 and another to the post about our trip to Rouen in September.

Thanksgiving on a French calendar

In the States, Thanksgiving was last Thursday, November 25. In France, that means nothing. It's not a holiday and you have to go to work on Friday, too. That means that we usually "do" Thanksgiving on the following weekend.
This year, it was on Sunday afternoon. I had ordered the turkey from the poultry lady at the market and Paul picked it up on Friday. If you need a reminder of the disaster that was last year, then go back to that post. She remembered it very well and was going to take good care of me this year. She did. The turkey was beautiful, albeit way too expensive. This year's turkey was on the small side, only around 4 kg. I had been saving bread for the stuffing. Emily had made a tsimiss for one of our great meals at Barnegat Light in October (the mini class reunion) and I remembered that for the sweet potatoes. Rita brought over her excellent cranberry relish, made with celery and apple. And I made pumpkin pie.
Anne took these pictures and everyone cleaned their plates.
Also, people sing about a white Christmas. We had a white Thanksgiving. It's not that frequent that it snows so early and it sticks.

Got a cold

painting by Joan Becker

I've got a cold. The kind that makes your throat scratchy and your eyes tear up constantly. I spent last weekend doing nothing except watch TV and try to read. Before that, though...
Last week, on Saturday, Paul and I went to the Salon de la Photo. We had invitations and just as we were leaving the house, we called Louis and Gwen and discovered that they were also on their way there, so we met them at the entrance and visited it together. There were too many people to do any real shopping around. I did manage to stop in at the Darqroom stand and see the different paper quality they use. (If you watch the  Salon de la Photo  report, it shows Darqroom at the end.) Nico V. wasn't there on Saturday and I was sorry to miss seeing him. After about an hour, we left, had lunch, and then headed over to Louis and Gwen's for a while. It was a nice way to get out on a gray and drizzly day.
Monday,first I went to see Candace. We were supposed to have met at the dubbing studio on Saturday, but that got cancelled because she had other meetings and on Monday she was recovering from a bout of something and not yet in condition to go to the studio, so we met up at her hotel. She worked a bit -- caught up on phone calls and e-mails, but mostly we were able to chat. I introduced her to Joan Becker's site. (Erica's sister-in-law). I hope she doesn't mind my plugging it here on the blog with a picture reference. Candace and I zoomed in on several of her paintings (especially the one above), trying to identify the details. I think I would love to have one of her paintings.
I went to see the movie, Sarah's Key (Elle s'appelait Sarah). I had read the book last month. I must say, for once, I think the movie is better than the book. I felt the characters were too cut and dried in the book, too predictable. They seem to have more depth in the movie. The acting is excellent.
On Friday, Paul and I headed into Paris to see the Monet exhibit. When we got out of the metro, the line was already there, at the corner. The entrance to this exhibit is about half a block away. Our Sésame card allows us to cut the line, but the entrance for that was also full and we figured that it would be mayhem inside, so we decided to go to FNAC voyages to set up the reservations for the big birthday weekend at Disneyland Paris in April. I have now cancelled the option I had with our local travel agency -- they were so useless thinking outside the box!
Then came the cold. After the weekend indoors, on Monday, Paul set off for Toulon to help Pierre take the small pieces and knickknacks from their mother's apartment, so it'll be more presentable to prospective buyers. I went to painting, but spent most of the morning coughing and not very up to painting. In the afternoon, since I was all alone in the house, I decided to put some papers away.
Tuesday I did some more organizing on the computer and then went to the library, but the book dust setting off coughing spasms was such that Ed sent me home early. I went to bed early.
Wednesday, the cat had me sequestered in my room a good part of the day. We can't let him in the house unless it's under complete supervision, now. There have been too many accidents, so unless he's in our arms or laps, he's to stay outside. And ouside, he meows constantly. He does seem to know if we're home, or not. It's unnerving. My only solution is to hole up in my room with the door shut, so the meowing only comes in faintly. I did manage to read, though. I'm almost finished with A Life of Picasso, Vol. I.
Thursday -- Paul was supposedly coming home this evening, but apparently he's staying down south another day or two. Not that he called me to let me know. I called to ask if he had indeed left and at what time in order to know when to expect him, but Gillette told me he was staying. To think, I cleaned up the house for nothing! Well this gave me time to catch up on the blog.

Other than the rally

I completely forgot to write about the fascinating exhibit that Paul and I went to last Friday. It's France 1500: between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (That's my translation. I didn't bother to look up theirs.) We're always thinking of the Renaissance as coming up from Italy. It did, but it also came down from Flanders. France sits in the middle and was as much under the influence of artists from the north as from the south. I hadn't realized how much or, at least, how it was all happening at the same time. In my head, I had Italy first and Flanders following. They have paintings, of course, but also sculptures and illuminated books and tapestries. The books were interesting because they weren't all religious books. There again, I was stuck in thinking that it was prayer books and manuscript copied bibles and other religious books that were illuminated, but it turns out all kinds of books were. Of course, by 1500, they were printing books and they were printing them with ready-to-illuminate woodcut illustrations, just like coloring books. Well-known artists were filling in these coloring books, so there!
Some of the scuptures they have in this exhibit still have traces of their colors, some have even more vibrant colors than just traces, so you can really see how they were originally -- very lifelike. On some of the Italian-influenced ones, the fabric, carved in the stone, is so delicate and fine, it's hard to imagine how that could be carved. There is also a lot of wood carving. There is a piece from the Palais de Justice in Rouen and since we were in Rouen admiring the Palais de la Justice just two months ago, I found it particularly interesting.
There's a Leonardo da Vinci portrait of a young lady -- the photo at the top of this page. She's got the same smile as the Mona Lisa, doesn't she? There's no landscape behind her though. It's "La Belle Ferronière" (commentary in French). She's very pretty, I think. Also, we could get up close to look at her!
Much of the art was on order. Anne de Bretagne, first, wife of Charles VII, then Louis XII, started and was followed by Louise de Savoie. It was the women who were the patrons of the arts. And since Louis XII and François I won some wars in Italy, a lot of artwork and artists came from Italy as war booty. The exhibit is interesting, varied, and the works come from lots of different places we don't have access to, so it's not the same as some eshibits that pull in pieces from the Musée de Cluny and the Louvre. I believe this exhibit will be going to Chicago, but I can't find my way back to the page where I think I saw that, so you'd better check.
If you're planning a trip to Paris, you can prepare for Grand Palais exhibits on line and you can download the audio guide (€3 via paypal) if you want. I can't wait to go back again and concentrate on certain pieces.
When we left home on Friday, the idea was to see the Monet exhibit, also at the Grand Palais. But, I had to renew my "Carte Sésame" and as we approached the hall, I figured the line would be longer at the desk at the Monet exhibit than at the France 1500 one. I think I was right, because there was no line at all at France 1500. If you are in Paris for any length of time that would permit you to see several exhibits, the Carte Sésame is worth it. You don't have to stand in line to get into the halls; you can go as many times as you want; with the duo card, you can go with anyone you like because only the cardholder has to be the same person; you get access to the conferences and you get a discount at the audio-guide desk and souvenir shop. If you already have a card for the Louvre or Orsay, you get a discount on the Carte Sésame, or if you have the Carte Sésame, you get a discount at those museums for their cards. And to top off the advantages, cardholders can get into the Monet exhibit as early as 9:00 from Friday to Tuesday, so I think we'll take advantage of that one.
So, that's what we did last Friday. After the exhibit, we walked up the Champs Elysées to the Charles-de-Gaulle RER station, stopping on the way for a coffee and tiramisu at the McDo Café! Very cheap and very good tiramisu and coffee for much less than anywhere else.
Today is Tuesday and I have to get ready to go into town to the library.