Always a Tourist

Mercredi, 11 Octobre 2023

I went a bit out of order as today’s post took place on Thursday and Friday, October 5 and 6, before we learned of Hamas attacks in Israel. I wanted to share these lovely days with you in spite of Saturday. My friend Peter texted me, “In these times of horror, keep publishing!”

Showing off my tiny Parisian kitchen and my new Barbie-pink gloves before heading out for the day.

While Andy was still in India, my Duke friends and I were trying do as much as possible during our week together. We outlined a plan to spend one day wandering a few specific sites in Paris. We were on the lookout for traditional French torchon (dish towels) and mustard. Did you know that Dijons we buy in the US are not as potent as the French versions? Also on our list were fun earrings for those of us (not me) who do not have pierced ears. We covered a lot of ground — I think Parisians always get their steps in — and were successful on all counts.

So much moutarde; not enough time to sample it all!

We also planned to find a sit-down lunch spot in the 4th arr. where we could dine on the Marais’s famous falafel.

And I invited Kenden to meet up with us for un café before we went back to the rivé gauche and the Musée d’Orsay. With my membership, we went to the head of the line and soon we were experiencing (my third this year) a new Van Gogh (1853-1890) exposition: Van Gogh à Auvers- sur-Oise: Les derniers mois. It is said during the artist’s final two months, he had a period of “artistic renewal;” 74 paintings are attributed to this short amount of time. At Auvers, Van Gogh was treated by Dr. Gachet, who treated melancholia. Gachet was also a painter and collector; you have probably seen his portrait.

We timed our Museum time to get to some of Musée d’Orsay’s permanent collection and dashed off to dinner at the amazing Ze Kitchen Galerie, where we enjoyed the fabulous tasting menu (and yes, I am going back there soon with Andy and our friend Stacy — can’t wait).

Giverny

My dear friends’ last day was another excursion. We took a lovely walk to Gare Saint-Lazare: across the Seine and through the Tuileries, dressed like the French (or like tourists 😉). Thank you, Kitty for the bérets and Coco Chanel’s best red 💄❣️

We took the train to Giverny, the home of Claude Monet (1840-1926) and the place where he lived once he was no longer a struggling artist. Monet rented in Giverny in 1883 and as his fortune grew, he purchased property in 1890, creating the most beautiful gardens. This became Monet’s main studio for more than 35 years. We took a private tour with Ariane Cauderlier, photographer and author of The Magic of Giverny: A Year in Claude Monet’s Garden. We saw scenes that were recognizable from paintings and photographs. Even in mid-October, the colors and greenery against our perfect blue-sky day were outstanding. In spite of the crowds, snapping pictures at every spot, Monet’s Garden was a sanctuary; this was his religion. Since Monet’s work experimented with light at different times of day and different seasons, we learned that he would work on a painting while the light for that painting was optimal and then move on to another work, focusing on light at a different time of the day. Monet could be rotating many paintings throughout the day because he was so true to capturing nature as it was, at that moment. This would go on until the painting was complete, even if it meant putting the project away until the light was back, the way Monet intended, the following year. We did not learn that in our college art history class but after experiencing Giverny’s beauty and landscape, it made complete sense.

The Garden photographs below need no words.