22 Octobre
I am one of those people who learn my way by getting lost. I think I know how to read maps but whether I am using Google Maps, City Mapper (which, when it works, actually tells me whether to get in the front of the Metro train or the back) or Apple Maps, I always seem to be going the wrong way. But, other than total embarrassment, I don’t mind the wandering because I find unexpected treasures along my way. Then, I can share my discoveries with my guests who have come to Paris assuming that their host actually knows what she is doing. My apologies to friends who have visited and have had to experience my lack of navigational skill.
Update: I am happy to report that I am getting better. Yesterday, I made it to au Bon Marché Rive Gauche in 11 minutes (it has taken me 40 minutes to get there on multiple occasions). In my defense, Paris is not an easy grid like New York or even Washington DC; Paris is circular, with complicated diagonals all over the place. At the Arc de Triomphe de l’Étoile, twelve avenues radiate like a star, which look very orderly on a map but make it very challenging (for me at least) to navigate!
This week, I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa, a childhood friend of Beth Ann, who has settled in Paris. After petit-déjeuner on the île Saint-Louis, we walked to Lisa’s new apartment, near the Bastille. It is wonderful to see how people update apartments in buildings that were part of Napoléon III’s plan, during the Second Empire, to modernize Paris. In the late 1800’s, Georges-Eugène Haussmann was in charge of this huge urban overhaul. I wonder how the critics compare Paris’s Baron Haussmann to New York’s powerbroker, Robert Moses.
Other than a few mishaps on the navigation front, my friend Stacy and I have been having a fun time together. Stacy’s request was good food and modern art and she came with a list! I used my organizational (not navigational) skills to work on squeezing in many to-dos on Stacy’s bucket list.
We were supposed to go to Centre Pompidou on Thursday but their employees were on strike so that’s on the agenda for Monday. Instead, we wandered and found some very funky neighborhoods, ending up at an amazing vegetarian restaurant called Big Love (our second time there), where Andy joined us for a delicious Italian meal.
Friday morning, Stacy went on a food tour while Andy and I went to American Library for a lecture about the library’s fascinating history. Thank you to Elyse’s cousins, Matt and Becky, for recommending this treasure. The Library is more than one hundred years old and was instrumental in providing access to books during both world wars for soldiers in hospitals, in the camps and on transport ships. Some of its staff were spies; some fought in the Resistance during WWII; some delivered books to Jewish members during Vichy France. This library changed the way the French used libraries. American innovations such as open access were shared with France as well as as children’s rooms and story time. The Paris Library started a librarian school after WWI which revolutionized library science all over the world. Hereafter, becoming a librarian became a profession, a profession dominated by women. The Library’s members have included some boldface names like Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Henry Miller, Collette and Claire McCardell. Fashion designer McCardell was inspired by Paris street fashion; she returned to the US and is remembered for modernizing American women’s sportswear. A WWII novel, The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles, was recommended by our guide (I have reserved a copy).
That was just the morning. Friday afternoon’s activity included a walk to the rive droite, to Bourse de Commerce, now the Pinault Collection, a very modern collection in an historic building. It seems all the big design houses are now “competing” as they show off their private collections and curate shows for the public. Foundation Louis Vuitton and Foundation Cartier also showcase art installations. Read below about Foundation Louis Vuitton (I took a pass on Foundation Cartier; its current exhibit seemed morbid to me.). My favorite installation was Mike Kelley’s Ghost and Spirit, imagining Kandor, the city where Superman was born.
Saturday was sponsored by my best-yet Paris purchase: a Dual Membership to the Musée d’Orsay and l’Orangerie. This membership means no reservation and no lines. Stacy and I saved hours of long lines at both museums! At l’Orangerie, an exhibit devoted to Amedeo Modigliani and his art dealer, Paul Guillaume, was fabulous as is Monet’s Waterlilies series, part of the museum’s permanent collection.
We then went to the Musée d’Orsay to see Van Gogh (again, for me) and some beautiful art deco designs.
But we were not finished with art for the day. Our evening activity began with Paris+ Art Basel (great contemporary art & people watching).
We ended the evening at Hotel Lutetia’s Bar Josephine where we enjoyed great music and visited with our new fave bartender, Serena 🍸. Lutetia has an interesting WWII history. The Germans took over the hotel when the French government evacuated in 1940. But when Paris was liberated in 1944, the American troops took over and the hotel became a repatriation center for PoWs and refugees who had survived the concentration camps.
Today we went to the Mark Rothko exhibit at Foundation Louis Vuitton. This was a fantastic show and representation of Rothko’s work. He had many different artistic periods in his life, which are all on view and lend themselves to this quote, “I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions.” I think there are still so many museums to see but I have enjoyed every one so far. When our next guests come, I will do a few more and I promise to continue working on my navigational skills!
We stopped for afternoon tea at the beautiful apartment of Kenden and Charles. It was nice to introduce my friends. After a walk along the Champs-Élysées, we enjoyed a superb dinner at Colvert in the 6th arrondissement, Stacy and I found our way back to the apartment. Andy was thrilled to watch his NY Giants victorious at an American-style pub called The Moose, a very appropriate name with a Lake Hopatcong connection.
Hoping that you have had a bon week-end.
À bientôt and shalom
The Innocents Abroad, 21st Century Version 