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This morning we went to our local cafe Le Nemrod as usual, and there were some regulars standing next to us at the bar. Notice they are having their normal morning wake-up wine. Maybe we'll start doing that too!
Then it was off to the Pinacotheque de Paris, a relatively new set of galleries near the Place de la Madeleine. Currently they are showing two related exhibitions, one of Hiroshige, a famous Japanese landscape artist who it is said to have been a great influence on Vincent Van Gogh, and then one of Van Gogh himself, so that you could see the similarities in their techniques and compositions. It was an amazing show...not only did we get to see this stunning and prolific Japanese painter, but also saw a fantastic selection of Van Gogh's works that we had never seen before, the largest group of his paintings loaned at any one time from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Both galleries were dimly lit so you really had to focus on the details, and it put you right there with the artist. We spent about two hours just being mesmerized by the subjects and the genius of each artist. Now whenever we see a painting by Van Gogh, we will think of this strong Japanese influence and have a better appreciation for his work.
These are by Hiroshige, the Japanese artist.
These look so much like Van Gogh paintings...
School kids sit quietly listening to explanations about the painters and their paintings...
These are by Van Gogh...some side by side with a similar Hiroshige...
Then there was one more exhibition in the Pinacotheque, this one of photographs from the devastation of the tsunami in Japan, and fantastic portraits of some of the people there after the disaster. The people seemed somewhat in a daze, as you might imagine, sort of in a time warp when they knew the world had changed forever for them. The simplicities of the portraits captured this feeling, and placed on a black background instead of a normal white background, made the faces almost eerie and very powerful.
All in all, these were three great exhibits.
After that we strolled around the Place de la Madeleine, and along Fourbourg St. Honore and Rue St. Honore, even better than Madison Avenue for styles, shopping, and people watching.
We browsed again in Fauchon, the famous gourmet food store, noticing just an 'ordinary' French mademoiselle elegantly sitting alone at the bar with her long billowing slicked-back pony tail, her leopard skin tights and high black riding boots, eating her pâté de fois gras on toast points and sipping some champagne. Isn't that what we see and do in Bloomies?!
We also peeked into La Dauree, the famous patisserie known for its rainbow colored macaroons, but it was so filled with tourists, mainly Asian, that it was hard to get close to the counter, so we left.
Then we ogled some more at the luxury items all around us.
In the evening we went to Le Bistrot Paul Bert way out east in the 11th Arondissement. We always take subways if we can. When I looked at the route, I knew that at the Correspondance where we had to change trains, Strasbourg St-Denis, it was a very working class area, but it was early evening and we did it. It turned out to be the most packed train we had ever been on, literally like on transports in third-world countries. At every station stop around there the people just pushed and piled in, wanting to get home after a long day's work. You couldn't fall because you were so squeezed in, but you had to make sure you didn't get your arm twisted by trying to hold on to the grab bar, or worse than that. It was quite an experience but I don't think we'll do that route by subway again at that time. Miraculously, Jill's old claustrophobia syndrome did not kick in! Chez Paul Bert is an old world French bistro in the 11th Arondissement and a nice change of pace for us. Coming home was fine, as we figured it would be.
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