Wednesday, after breakfast, we walked to the Pompidou Center where we saw an exhibit on women artists as well as the national collection of modern art. The women artists exhibit was actually somewhat boring for us. Walking through, we found pieces we had seen in Istanbul and Barcelona, among other ones we had seen on separate occasions. The permanent collection was okay, some highlights were Duchamp’s ready-mades, which I had wanted to see. The best part about the museum was that we got to see some of Alexander Calder’s Circus. Most of his work (this is why we went to the Pompidou) was in a separate gallery that cost 9 euro to enter (we did not). However, some of the sketches, a few animal sculptures and a great video were in a section that we didn’t have to pay for. (Jess gets in for free because she’s an art student with an EU passport. I got into this one for free because I’m “Spanish” with an expired Spanish resident alien card – the woman clearly didn’t understand Spanish because the card says I’m actually a US citizen and not European at all.) I love Calder. I like the idea that he invented the mobile – the moving sculpture. No one else did it before him, or at least no one did it like he did until he did. He mainly used primary colors, as influenced by Mondrian, another of my faves. I’ve encountered his sculptures in various parts of the world, from Yale’s campus (Joe, it’s the one across from Silliman, in the courtyard of the building where the war memorial walls are located) to a street corner in Mallorca. The video of his Circus was awesome because imagine a rotund adult on the floor playing with wire and cloth toys that he’s made. Every now and then he blows a whistle to signify a new act and announces it in broken French. It’s great! The acts were hilarious and he thought of everything, down to the horse’s poop and it’s pooper scooper. He even had a stretcher for a fallen-dancer and his tightrope walkers really moved. Actually, everything really moved: horses galloped around the ring, trapeze artists swung, heavyweight champs lifted and a belly dancer swung her hips. I actually watched part of the movie while Jess was on the phone and then again with her.
Leaving the Pompidou Center, which is famous for having it’s “guts” on the outside, we crossed Les Halles and walked up the Rue St. Honore, stopping at Colette. This crazy store had a “Water Bar,” specializing in bottled water from around the world, in its basement. One the entrance floor they sell books, 3000 euro Tag Heuer cell phones, and other assorted junk you never knew you needed. Upstairs they had a photography exhibit (mostly celebrity portraits) and clothing which is also somewhat of a temporary art exhibit. All the clothing and the pictures are for sale. The clothing is arranged in outfits on mannequins. You can try stuff on, but you have to ask a salesperson to go in the back and find it for you. This store is somewhere Joe and I went last time we were here and Jess enjoyed it as well.
Next we hung out in the Jardin du Tulleries. We sat in front of a Lictenstein statue because we had seen another one in Barcelona. Then we walked the Champs Elysee and had tea at La Duree. Actually I had tea and meringues and Jess had hot chocolate and macaroons (dark chocolate, salted caramel, blackcurrant, and rose petal). We walked to the Arc de Triumph which had a huge, Bosphorus Bridge sized flag in its center, and then the Eiffel Tower.
Finally, on the way back to the hostel, we went to Picard: a frozen food store. Everything they sell is frozen: meals, desserts, macaroons, bread, veggies, fruit, meats, fish, rice, soup, guacamole, sashimi. I bought rice and veggies; Jess got a pasta, salmon, sauce pre-made dinner. We came back to the hostel and ate it. Last time I was in Paris, I had really wanted to buy something and have it for dinner, but we didn’t have a microwave. I’m glad I go to experience Picard this time around. The rice was frozen individually, rather than in clumps like when I freeze it.
Thursday morning we went to the Cimetiere du Pere Lachaise where we saw the graves of many famous people including Guillaume Apollinere, Proust, Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf, Theodore Gericault and, of course, Oscar Wilde. His grave was covered with lipstick kisses left by his many dedicated fans. After wandering the cemetery for a while, we walked toward Bastile. We went to the Place de Vosges, one of the oldest plazas in the city, where we ate a picnic lunch while watching a huge water fight break out. French tweens ran through the park hurling bottles of water at each other and narrowly missing the unsuspecting tourists dining on the grass. It looked like a lot of fun, and we didn’t mind the craziness. Some people yelled at the kids; others just got up and moved away.
Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and Hunchback of Notre Dame, used to live on the plaza. His apartment is now a free museum, so we went to check it, and its bathroom, out. The museum was okay. Most of it was comprised of rooms of pictures and busts of him. One floor was decorated with period furniture. Next we walked across the river. We wandered through the streets between the Marais and the Seine, stopping at a store called “Thanksgiving.” It sold American food. Real American food; imported-from-America American food. We’re talking Ocean Spray cranberry sauce (4.95 euros), marshmallow fluff – regular and strawberry (5.90 euro), marshmallows (3 euro for a tiny bag), and cans of frosting (6.90 euro). It also had baking mixes, turkey basters, tons of jello and peanut butter. This store was made for homesick ex-pats or people attempting to make Thanksgiving dinner while abroad. I’ll be home in a month, so I resisted buying anything (and bought marshmallows in Amsterdam instead).
We walked around the Latin Quarter and the St. Germain area, stopping so Jess could fulfill a Fasian (fake-Asian) craving with sesame-free sesame chicken (called chicken in caramel sauce) and rice. I got some cabbage salad. Then we walked back towards the hostel. Along the way we decided to go shopping because there were really big sales going on throughout the city. We wandered the narrow streets of the Marais. I tried on some clothes, but didn’t like any of it. We bought chopsticks and I finally got a hairbrush, which I’ve needed since mine broke in Scotland (the second time we were there – but really it started breaking in Barcelona). We walked back to the hostel and hung out there before catching our overnight bus to Amsterdam.
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