I'm Back!

Had a couple of low days there - nothing serious, just a bit of travel fatigue. On Sunday I went to an art fair and found a couple of things I couldn't live without. I'm trying to buy only flat things this time so I don't have to buy an extra suitcase like I usually do before I come home. I also brought along a few things I can jettison before I leave here, like some old wash cloths. I never have found out what the French wash themselves with...

After the art fair I took the Metro waaay out to a garden called Serres (greenhouses) d'Autueil to hear a free concert. I was very early so I had lunch, which was quite good, by the way, and then strolled through the gardens, still pretty in spite of the lateness of the season. I wandered through the iron and glass hothouses (this construction was very popular the last half of the 19th century; think Eiffel Tower)and "judged" a floral competition, then went to sit in the park outside to get some fresh air and wait for the concert to begin. From where I was sitting, I could hear the orchestra practicing. After about 20 minutes, I suddenly lost interest and got up and went home! Maybe I thought I'd already heard the concert, I don't know. Here's a little slide show of the park:

Monday morning I slept late, lay around in my bathrobe on the couch, and read a trashy detective novel. Finally, about 3:00 I roused myself and went to the new architectural exhibit at the Palais de Chaillot. Am I ever glad I did! Just when I think I've seen everything there is to see in Paris, the French come up with something new. This is a newly refurbished wing of a U-shaped museum that faces the Eiffel tower across the river; the exhibit had just opened three days after I got here. Again, words fail me when I try to describe this exhibit: the portals, columns, tympanum, sculptures, etc. of every major Gothic cathedral or residence or city hall of note in the entire country had been reproduced, life-size, and was on display in this immense building. I just sort of stood there thinking, "This can't be possible. How could anyone do it?" I managed to get one photo before the guard came running over, scolding me in very rapid French. On another floor, the interiors of Romanesque churches, chapels and baptistries had been reproduced to the last detail. Intricacies of sculpture and painting were there, but so was the damage that had been done from war, wear, and use. The colors in the murals were rich, but faded, and completely "worn away" in many places. The noses and feet of statues were missing where they had been broken off in religious wars and the revolution. Every last detail was accurate. The publicity on this exhibit explained that now everyone could tour France without leaving Paris. :)



In the evening I went to a concert in the Church of the Madeleine, a neo-classical style church, very different in appearance from the usual Romanesque or Gothic cathedral that you usually see in France. It looks more like the Parthenon, with great columns all around the building. (Remember the coconut cake, Beth?) The concert was quite varied, a string nonette (is that what you call a group of nine?), a soprano soloist who had a beautiful voice and a competent coloratura, but looked like a wind-up Barbie doll (or maybe more like a street performer miming a wind-up doll)and a virtuoso violinist. Definitely worth taking the late Metro home.