Around the World in 330 Days: Brian's Fulbright Journey in China and Elsewhere: Day 317: Paris, Day 7--Musee de l'Orangerie and Le Jardin des Tuileries

Today we did what we thought we were going to do yesterday: we went to the Musee de l'Orangerie and Le Jardin des Tulieries. Line 1 on the Metro had resolved all its issues, fortunately; I stupidly put a used ticket in the machine again. Going to the subway on Line 1, you have to enter the ticket twice. In Paris, you just need the ticket for the entry; you don't need it after that, apparently. This is different from Shanghai.

We got off at the Concorde stop and walked to the museum. It's inside Le Jardin des Tulieries. Today, fortunately, it was open; security wasn't that difficult and our museum pass was easily accepted. The main floor of the museum had Monet's Water Lilies in two separate huge rooms. It's quite the enterprise; I guess it was particularly designed for this building. My favorite part of the expansive painting was the one with the sunset in the first room..stunning! Downstairs, the had an expansive collection of works...almost 200, mostly Impressionist, works from the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume collection. The artists included Utrillo, Soutine (who really appealed to me), Rousseau, Modigliani, Derain, Laurencin, Matisse, Picasso, and Cezanne. We turned the corner and saw a Gaugin or two and a wall of Renoir. I also developed an appreciation for a a woman painter named Marie Laurencin....I loved her use of pinks, greys, and blues, and her representations of female subjects. We bought some postcards of her work; she was a contemporary of Picasso. We also saw an exhibition of contemporary works from folks influenced by the Monet painting. Some left me cold, but some enthralled me, particularly the ones from Jackson Pollock. I also learned a bit about an American artist named Joan Mitchell today, who apparently worked in France for a bit after being inspired by Impressionism. So all this was good stuff.

Some weird, not-so-good stuff happened at this museum today, though. In the first Monet room, one female guard kept going around the room "shhhhhhhhing" everyone. Why? I'm not sure what the point of that was. Did conversation interfere with the atmosphere of peace and tranquility Monet was intending to create. Perhaps that's it. Secondly, another woman guard kept telling me and Kerry not to take pictures of one Monet painting in another room. I didn't, and I even offered to show her my camera. Kerry took a picture of it anyway, out of spite. I realize that these people are just doing their job, but sometimes I think they go too far. Finally, I had an incident in a room where we were reading about Water Lilies where a woman said "Excusez-moi" to me, so I'd move. I was apparently blocking her view. So I moved to the left. Then she said, "Monsieur? Monsieur? Monsieur?" I turned around and she started speaking to me in French. She figured out I couldn't understand her, so she said, "You were standing right in front of me while I was reading. That was not very nice of you. You put your small body (small?) in front of me." I replied, "Sorry, but I'm trying to read, too." I think she had more to say to me, but I ignored her. My guess is that she was trying to put a "rude American" in his place. The incident also reminded me that the French have VERY different personal space rules than the Chinese. The Chinese push and bump into each other all the time, cut in front of each other in line, and walk in front of each other. Frankly, I'm a bit used to living this way. The French don't even like to have someone sit next to them on the subway. They will always leave a middle seat open between two people; the Chinese, however, don't care.

We bought a couple small items in the boutique, and then we left. Next we walked around Le Jardin des Tulieries. There's a huge fountain in the center, lots of sculptures from the 17th to 19th centuries, especially (in Greek style, usually of Greek Gods), and some pretty flowers. It's more like a park than a garden; lots of places to sit. We also saw ducks and pigeons swimming around in the water. I did hope that it would be more of a "garden" overall, but it was a nice place to hang out. I also noticed that a couple areas had actual fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes and grapes, even.

Then we tried to find the Metro--This time we went to the Tuileries stop. On the way there, I almost got run over by a bicycle, but I managed to avoid it. Then I got bumped into once I got on the subway. Sometimes I get annoyed with the lack of space and time in big cities, especially ones I don't know.

We tried a cafe near our hotel, Le Grand Carnot. The food was okay, but no great shakes. The served bread, fries, and a small salad, which is what all these cafes seem to serve. I had the chicken, and it was fine, but nothing special, and quite a small portion. Kerry felt the same about his burger. We didn't have dessert there; instead, we opted to have desserts from a vegan bakery near L'Arc de Triomphe. We brought it home. I had a cherry-pistachio tart; Kerry had a cookie. Quite good. The Asian woman behind the counter noted, "You're speaking both French and English! How is my English?" We assured her it was fine.

Today was okay, but definitely not one of our best days in Paris. Frankly, I sort of wish we weren't spending 14 days here. Kerry and I both now wish we'd spent more time in Ireland and more time in Prague. Tomorrow shouldn't be too taxing....we are just doing laundry.