A quick walk in the rain to the Musee d'Orsay where we spent 4 hours plus a 1 hour lunch. The cafe in the d'Orsay is very nice - but the service is French (slow). The d'Orsay is the old train station converted into a museum which includes art where the Louvre left off from 1850 through 1920's. The big draw here is the Impressionist period paintings.
Birth of Venus by Cabanel is a goddess of perfection.
The Gleaners by Millet shows poor women picking up stray grains after the harvest. This style is realism where real situations are portrayed by real people - not the Greek classics or fantasy backgrounds.
Olympia by Edouard Manet is another realistic painting contrasting sharply with the Birth of Venus. He uses sharp lines and contrasting colors to grab attention. After several additional Manet paintings Virginia Ann began to really like his style and ended up buying a book about the artist.
Dance at the Moulin de la Galette by Renoir was a painting from the cafes of Montmartre where the working class would enjoy little cakes (galette). This is the impression Renoir came away with after watching.
La Seine a Champrosay by Renoir in 1876
Japanese Bridge by Monet is from the gardens of Giverny. One of Cal's favorite artists this is but one of several paintings each done at a different time of day so Monet could experiment with light.
Self Portrait, Paris by Van Gogh in 1887. After meeting Monet Van Goah begins using color - lots of it. He rents a room in Montmartre and begins learning the Impressionist style. Van Gogh's brush strokes become thick and swirling.
Paul Cezanne - L' Estaque - in the gulf of Marseille - 1878
Paul Signac - Le Chateau des Papes - 1900
Given a hot tip on the best hot chocolate in the world by Tracy Knight we headed over to Angelena's after the d'Orsey. It was so good we would make room later in our trip for a second visit. The hot chocolate is great and the pastries make the visit an event.
Opera Garnier is Paris's first opera house. This beautiful facade was designed by Charles Garnier. The building took 15 years to complete - a tumultuous period including the 1870 war, the fall of the empire and the Commune.
The Opera foyer is where the elite meet during breaks in performance. The hall was huge with paintings on all the ceilings by Paul Baudry portraying themes from the history of music
Inside the Opera house there is seating for only 2200 because the stage is huge - 11,000 square feet that can accommodates up to 450 performers.
The chandelier weighs 8 tons - it is big. This was a highlight for Virginia Ann.
For dinner we headed to Montmarte, Paris's highest point. Here is the Sacre-Coeur Church which looks very old but was built a scant 100 years ago in 1870 after the German siege of Paris was over. This is a great spot to look over the Paris lights.
Dinner was at Chez La Mere Catherine off the Montmarte square with Cat Stevens and her mom (Carol), dad (Matt),and the Bruners, Eric and Laura. This was a lively restaurant with very good food in a touristy area.
