First thing on September 22 we went to the covered market at the end of the street. We bought lovely fresh fruit and soft cheese. We stopped at the bakery for gorgeous fresh-baked bread, croissants and petit pain au chocolat for breakfast, as well as fresh coffee and milk.
Our first visit today was to the Museum L’Orangerie. This houses two beautiful rooms with part of Monet’s water lilies series of paintings displayed in two huge oval rooms. It is breathtaking. I found the second room with the very dark blue and purple paintings that wrapped around most of the room just awe inspiring. They are so beautiful it almost makes you cry. Both Ellen and Katherine also found them to be very beautiful
A number of other works were also displayed but compared with the water lilies they paled. The most interesting thing was the model of Paul Guillaume’s rooms that showed how important people like him were in buying artworks and supporting many of the impressionists and modern artists.
We enjoyed a very French lunch. I had a platter of cheeses and a glass of red wine. Tres bien!
After lunch we visited Notre Dame. Again I found it really moving. Having been raised in the Catholic Church, I’ve always found it really difficult to understand the Protestant objection to beautiful and art-filled churches. The idea that this somehow cannot be spiritual – when the artwork speaks so much of the artists’ devotion. The devotion to God of those who created Notre Dame and the works within it is so evident and really moving. It is simply beautiful. I particularly liked the carvings around the choir. It’s hard to believe that something 900 years old could still look so beautiful.
After we left Notre Dame, a mime artist was performing outside. The girls were delighted with his performance. He interacted with them quite a bit. Part of his act was to ‘mimic’ the children watching him – he really captured the personality of the girls, revealing their bashful nature and shy smiles!
That night Ross and Susanna went to a concert, so we enjoyed dinner at the café downstairs at the end of the Passage du Marche (three doors down). The girls had a great time as one of the women at the bar had her pet beagle with her and brought it out to meet the girls and have a little pat and play a couple of times.
Carlene
Our first visit today was to the Museum L’Orangerie. This houses two beautiful rooms with part of Monet’s water lilies series of paintings displayed in two huge oval rooms. It is breathtaking. I found the second room with the very dark blue and purple paintings that wrapped around most of the room just awe inspiring. They are so beautiful it almost makes you cry. Both Ellen and Katherine also found them to be very beautiful
A number of other works were also displayed but compared with the water lilies they paled. The most interesting thing was the model of Paul Guillaume’s rooms that showed how important people like him were in buying artworks and supporting many of the impressionists and modern artists.
We enjoyed a very French lunch. I had a platter of cheeses and a glass of red wine. Tres bien!
After lunch we visited Notre Dame. Again I found it really moving. Having been raised in the Catholic Church, I’ve always found it really difficult to understand the Protestant objection to beautiful and art-filled churches. The idea that this somehow cannot be spiritual – when the artwork speaks so much of the artists’ devotion. The devotion to God of those who created Notre Dame and the works within it is so evident and really moving. It is simply beautiful. I particularly liked the carvings around the choir. It’s hard to believe that something 900 years old could still look so beautiful.
After we left Notre Dame, a mime artist was performing outside. The girls were delighted with his performance. He interacted with them quite a bit. Part of his act was to ‘mimic’ the children watching him – he really captured the personality of the girls, revealing their bashful nature and shy smiles!
That night Ross and Susanna went to a concert, so we enjoyed dinner at the café downstairs at the end of the Passage du Marche (three doors down). The girls had a great time as one of the women at the bar had her pet beagle with her and brought it out to meet the girls and have a little pat and play a couple of times.
Carlene
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