Sites, soldes and taste buds

Trip Start Jun 25, 2008

Trip End Aug 27, 2008

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Flag of France Paris, Île-de-France, France
Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I have been in Paris for an entire week and the time has flown by like the wind, which is to say quickly, though it has been rather cold and windy since my arrival as well. Unfortunately , I had naively assumed that traveling in July and August did not warrant me bringing my winter clothes, so I have done a little shopping to make up for my silly mistake. I suppose one should never assume, even when it seems a logical assumption, lest you make an ass of yourself or, in my case, freeze to death. But even when it's cold and a little bit dreary, Paris is still beautiful.

I had a wonderful and very full first weekend. It's both exciting and somewhat frustrating, for instance, to realize that no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to see ALL of the museums and their respective exhibitions. There are so many museums and galleries in this city that the feat would simply be impossible to accomplish.

However, I did do my very best this weekend. On the first Sunday of every month all of the national museums (and there are many !) are free to the public. I decided that I had to take advantage and planned accordingly, skipping any daytrips.

Me and a group of girlfriends set out for the Picasso Museum at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning hoping to beat the crowds also on the prowl for free museum entries. Taking into account that most respected art museums have at least a few Picasso pieces and that the Picasso Museum in Barcelona is rather large and rather impressive, I was pleasantly surprised.

Musee Cluny - where I work

The collection was by no means astouding (for that there's the Barcelona museum), but just right for a free entrance day.

A lot of the pieces in the collection were prints, photographs, posters of Picasso's art exhibitions and pieces created with miscellaneous media. For instance, there were collages made from sand, ceramic plates and large wood carvings in the Ť primitive ť style that so fasinated Picasso and his buddies. It provided a good contrast to the typical works by Picasso, like the ones from his Cubist period, that are usually on display in museums. Although, of course, there were those, too.

The museum building itself was formerly a school, so it is rather unassuming with a small garden in the back. The best part is that it's situated in the Marais, a quirky Parisien neighborhood comparable to Chueca in Madrid, Hillcrest in San Diego or the Castro in San Francisco. Oh, it's also known for its Orthodox Jews and delicious latkes, so I suppose in that way it's also comparable to Brooklyn. I love strolling in the Marais and window-shopping the boutiques.

Between museums, my friends and I headed to the marché aux puces (a.k.a. flea market) past the Porte de Clignancourt metro stop. We got off a stop before the actual flea market began and entered a sort of farmer's market all along the streets. I took advantage of the prices and bought some bananas and tomatoes that I then had to carry around with me. Simultaneously, it occurred to me that the French are (mostly) so thin because the food is just too expensive to bother consuming.

Picasso's goat

Why eat, anyway, when there are cigarettes and coffee, instead ? Too bad I don't smoke and too much coffee gives me stomach aches.

We walked down toward the flea market that turned out to be not very impressive. It reminded me of the flea market at Ashby station in Berkeley, but I bought a scarf anyway. Paris is experiencing Ť San Diego winter ť right now, so I have to make do. Apparently, however, the antiques flea market that I was kindly told about by my wonderful boss at the Berkeley Art Museum was further down and we didn't know it. I think I'm done with flea markets for now, though.

My friends headed for the Dali museum in Montmartre after that and I went to the new Musée du Quai Branly, an anthropological museum commissioned by former president Jaques Chirac, which he dedicated to the study of different cultures of the world. The museum building, designed by the architect Jean Nouvel, had made headlines for its outrageous and somewhat shocking interior and exterior design, so I really wanted to see what the hype was about.

On the outside, the building (for probably no explicable reason) reminded me of the de Young Museum in San Francisco. Quai Branly is very colorful, with a lovely garden you can traverse before arriving at the entrance (not so at the de Young). The building is modern, but not so Ť modern ť that if feels like a block of concrete dumped on the ground over the shapes of several dozen cube boxes to form a hideous grey fortress with a bunch of prison cells inside.

Musee Carnavalet

This building is refreshing. What's not so refreshing is how impersonal the exhibition space is inside. Firstly , it was dark, which is good if you want to go to sleep. Secondly, there is a long passage, similar to those in airports, you have to traverse before getting to the permanent collection. Thirdly, it is difficult to figure out which explanations go with which pieces, so I ended up sort of strolling through the exhibition admiring the world's curiosities, but not necessarily trying to find the little descriptions that go with the objects and make them more meaningful. On the flip side, the choice of display is very original, with large wooden sculptures towering over the visitors and objectss hanging under glass with no visible suspension. Definitely creative, though I think that in recent years museum buildings themselves have sometimes become more important and admired than the material they present inside.

On Friday a friend and I went to the opening of an exhibition at the Petit Palais highlighting art with the theme Ť flamenco ť. It was lovely to see the Palais and made me think again how wonderful it is to have so many cultural activities available for free.

My Saturday was not so full of cultural activities, unless you consider shopping a cultural activity, which it actually might be in France - or at least in Paris. There are sales EVERYWHERE, and since I was so good while I was at home, I indulged a little. And then a little more yesterday. And probably some more in the next few days, but really, who can blame me ? Like someone said to me : Ť You're only in Paris once when you're 22 ! ť

I'll share a little silly encounter I had with the French language.

Next to the Sorbonne, what do you expect?

In French, Ť soldes ť means Ť sales. ť There's a banner hanging on the streets that reads Ť Solidays, ť so I thought it was a play on the words Ť holidays ť and Ť soldes ť, as in Ť Sales are a French national holiday. ť Then I googled it and found out that actually it's a festival to raise money for AIDS research, etc. But it would have been funny if I had been right...

Also, I have apparently been mispronouncing the director's name and my mispronunciation means something vulgar. A kind soul happened to share that information with me. Better that someone told me now rather than later, I suppose.

And since I mentioned cheeses before, I should mention the desserts. I have had two actual Ť pastries ť (what I consider a pastry, which is to say more like a cake and less like a cookie) that were incredible. My boss treated me to a lunch last week at a Viennese pastry shop and I had a play on what's usually called a Ť framboisier ť : light cream sandwiched between lady finger cookies and whole raspberries placed gingerly inside the cream. It was melt-in-your-mouth, I'll-kill-you-if-you-touch-my-pastry phenomenal ! I usually take photos of my beautiful pastries to sort of document my dessert experience, but I was embarrassed to do so in front of my boss. The other one was called Ť L'elixir ť. It had pistachio and hazelnut mouse with berries on top and almond cookies on the sides. I don't have a picture of that one because by the time I brought it home it was smushed.

As for what the French call Ť Viennoiserie ť, known asŤ Danishes ť in America (how multicultural !), I stop by a place on my way to work almost everyday to have breakfast : café crčme and a flaky dessert of my choice. I love that part of my day when I can sip some delicious coffee, eat a croissant and read a bit. It's pretty much my favorite activity anywhere, anyway !

P.S. Jackie, I hope the details about the museums were to your satisfaction ! ;)