46 hours in Paris

The fact that I’ve gotten this far into my posts without a Jimmy Buffett reference is actually impressive, so I would recommend giving “He Went to Paris” a little listen to start.

As for my trip, below you’ll find a detailed account of my movements and top finds across 5 Art Museums and my walks in between!

Thursday, September 22nd

05:38 Arrive London St. Pancras train station

10:17 Arrive in Paris Gare du Nord

Gare du Nord west exit featured on the right

10:50 Arrive Musee National Gustave Moreau on foot

after taking several photos of people on my Kodak F9

11:14 have become quite obsessed with Moreau in a short time

realise that much like a sunset, my iPhone is not going to capture the beauty of what I am seeing

much of Moreau’s work presented in his family home is based on Greek Mythology; on the left a painting of Jason aboard the Argo, and the top right, a view of The Muses Promenading

the bottom right is Moses removing his sandals upon seeing the promised land

12:21 Arrive on foot at Galerie Gismondi which houses a collection of ancient art and a contemporary art on the top floor.

from the contemporary exhibit at Galerie Gismondi

11:31 Arrive at Ladurée (next door) for a selection of 6 macarons - though we have them in London, they’re to be eaten in Paris

12:36 Arrive on foot at Jardin du Carrousel after having walked from West to East through the Jardin des Tuileries, past the Louvre to a supermarket where I could buy supplies for a small picnic.

I spent 2.5 hours in the gardens relaxing in the sun, eating my snacks and reading my book, The Talented Mr. Ripley. I watch a group of dogs play and think that they may be cultured dogs since they play at the Louvre, but you can never really tell with dogs.

The Louvre from the Jardin des Tuilieries

Page turner and pickles, a park match made in Heaven

14:57 I am 900 meters away from the destination of my 16:00 reservation, so I leave to take the longest route possible

I walk south to the Seine and walk along the river to Pont Alexandre III, far enough so that I get a glimpse of an almost unobstructed Eiffel Tower. I cross back to see the Petit Palais (and in which in this short glimpse I determine I must visit the following day) and then make my way east again to ensure I am not late for my upcoming reservation.

16:00 Arrive on time to Hotel de la Marine, an architectural monument designed by the King’s architect and completed in 1774.

It was originally home to the Garde-Mobile, the office managing the furnishing of all royal properties and following the French Revolution became home to the French Navy who occupied it until 2015. It has been undergone renovation for the past 6 years and is finally open to the public.

sadly this print is not available on ruggable

a wall panel and view of the ornate ceiling

17:11 leave the Hotel de la Marine and venture into the underground to Saint-Germain-en-Laye

18:17 Arrive to the apartment of my cousin, Marisa, who I am lucky enough to stay with that evening

We talked for hours, catching up on all things life, love, family, books. Went to a lovely dinner there in town with her partner who I was able to meet for the first time. Wonderful evening all around!

Friday, September 23rd

08:15 We head to the morning market near her apartment, I forgot my phone and wallet so she kindly bought me both a crepe and fresh raspberries :)

09:52 Arrive back in Central Paris via the same route I left, arriving at the Museum L’Orangerie

The main attraction here are a selection of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies, and there are a selection of Picasso, Henri Rousseau, and other artists. I knew of the Water Lilies series, but didn’t have a great appreciation for them going in — too “impressionistic” I thought.

Reading the supplied information on the works, I did learn a bit which increased my appreciation for the history and context of the works.

“There is no sky, no horizon, hardly and perspective or stable points of reference enabling the viewer to orient himself, just completely arbitrary boundaries between actual space and pictorial space..”

— critic Louis Gillet at the opening at L'Orangerie

Henri Rousseau, La Carriole du père Junier

11:28 I take an unplanned stop at the Petit Palais as my reservation for the museum was to enter between 14:00-14:30

I paid for the exhibit of André Devambez not realising there were permanent exhibitions free to the public. I am glad that I made this mistake, as I actually really enjoyed the works despite not being attracted to the piece promoting the exhibit.

Some of his work had a cartoon style, which was not my favourite, but the realistic paintings, the the one below of his children, I thought were really wonderful.

As for the permanent exhibition, my favourite painting, which I had never before seen, was Jean-Lous Ducas’ Van Dyck Painting His First Painting. The image below is not the full image, but you can view that here.

13:44 I arrive at the base of the Eiffel Tower to take a classic tourist pic which was a questionable idea as it was completely out of the way of my route from L’Orangerie to Musee D’Orsay, which is quite literally across the street/Seine.

Took a few photos and then sprinted to D’Orsay arriving 3 minutes within my reservation window! Otherwise I would have had to queue, which was lengthy!

May have made a quick stop in a cute grocery along the way ^__^

14:27 I arrive to use my reservation slot to enter Musee D’Orsay which is an art museum inside an old train station

Below are two of my favourite shots from the D’Orsay, but also just some of my favourite shots that I’ve taken of others appreciating art.

Georges Rochegrosse, Le Chevalier aux fleurs

Tony Robert-Fleury, The Last Day of Corinth

16:51 After 5 Museums in two days I am.. tired. So I return to the gardens in front of the Louvre for a little snack picnic and a read before walking to Palais Royal and then catching the tube to my hotel.

I stayed at Hotel Les Deux Gare for two reasons:
1. It was a 4 minute walk from the train station where I needed to arrive at roughly 7 AM
2. All of the interior design is done by Luke Edward Hall, and I really like his work

08:15 I depart Gare du Nord bound for London

Arrive safely, soundly, and an incrementally more French. I seem to have been pardoning myself in public in French instead of English now. Oops.