and there was more.....

After a morning in the Musé d'Orsay, and a bike ride back, and I would like to add that Velibs, the Paris bike system, are delightfully anarchic.  Rules?  HA!  Helmets, for wimps.  Go where you want, when you want, always.

Anyway, one of my nephew's birthdays was coming up around then, so we had a pretty special lunch!  My brother in law is a professional chef (I have to say, visiting Paris is one long sufferfest)

Then I snuck in a quick visit to Dynamo, and exhibit at the Grand Palais...I have to say my sister's Velib card and membership to the Palais made this possible.

The loop in the center slowly rotated, and the mirrors on the side drew constantly different images

This piece was a three dimensional ball.

The show included a lot of work with lights, a lot of flashing lights.  It was s delight and a relief to get out here and see these cool blue balls swinging gently

Art, not sure, but very very cool

Saw this one in BCN a while ago, still an incredibly cool piece

We got to draw with our bodies on this one....kind of like a huge Catalan doorway in the summer.  Many people and businesses hang up similar stringy things to keep the flies down.  Would that it were warm enough for flies!

Anish Kapoor

Calder

Farewell!!!!

Another day, a few more photos

Well, lets clarify that, the first couple of photos are the same day, different venue.  You see, part of why I went to Paris this weekend was because a friend of mine was celebrating her 50th AND her graduation from University!!!!

They held a party in the Louvre!

This is one of the central sculpture galleries, which after miles (literally) of artwork is blessedly light and airy and spacious.  Also there is a modern installation in there which you can see through the window.

And an installation on the pyramid, that's my sister and I in the shadow...she lives there too, so I got to see her, my brother in law and my nephews!

A scene from dinner.  Serious yum.

The next morning I woke up BRIGHT and early (hello insomnia!)  so went down to the Musé d'Orsay - partially as it was the only one open so early....and we were greeted in the line by this little bird singing away at us!  Sadly the camera was set on food, and he isn't so the photo is a little odd. I do confess to using a point and shoot set on automatic.  Works well enough for the basics.  Sorry folks, but that's the way I roll.

The d'Orsay doesn't allow photography inside, so I stuck to the spirit of the law if not the letter and didn't take photos of the artwork, though in fact, this seat/bench/octopus was amazing.  I had a seat in it, and I could sleep there.  Goodness it was marvelous.

The clock....everyone has this photo I suspect but it is still wonderful.

Then there were these incredible benches.  See those?

I went and had a seat cause I wasn't sure if they were glass or plastic.  They were pretty cool and very hard, like glass is, but the Man is assuring me that it is incredibly difficult to cast glass like this so it is highly unlikely that they could be glass.  Now I know next to nothing about glass casting, so I will bow to his wisdom, but they did feel like glass, and they were definitely cool as all get out.

Then, since I was taking photos of chairs and benches, I thought I'd throw these in too....

and got all artsy fartsy with the photography

I thought this bridge was crazy cool, both an upper and a lower level!

Then got on a velib, here's a photo of my trusty steed!

and the fun continued, but that's another post......

Good stuff from Paris...where to start!

This will take several posts I think.....

I would also like to point out that I take many more photos when I am by myself than I would ever take when I am with someone else, the desire to show them!

I'm guessing the easiest way to do this would be chronologically, no?

Which leads me to some random photos of cool stuff, and then Monet's garden (and about 75 photos of flowers...I will try and contain myself here!)  Let it just be said, it is worth the visit.

There's still going to be a lot of photos here, and a video no less!

A random door knocker, you'd think I'd be immune to this kind of stuff by now, what with living here, but no....it's still a totally impressive door knocker.

I do think that the number of photos that one can take of the Eiffel Tower does approach infinite.

Here it is ***S*p*A*r*K*L*i*N*g***

This is one of the metro stations, I think it is Gare Saint Lazare, though I could be wrong...very Catalan looking vaulting, and colours, I am wondering if Guastavino had a look in on this!

When you go to visit Monet's gardens, if you take the train, you get off in this town, Vernon.  It is a lovely little town, at least the center is, and you can rent a bike to ride the 7K to the gardens.  Well worth it, even in the rain.

On the ride out of town, there is a bike path that takes you along the one way road out of town, which I (fortunately) didn't see, so I ended up riding through the central square...and it was lovely!

Now you can see the official path.  It was pretty empty, as it was raining pretty steadily, and everyone else opted for the shuttle bus.

Can you see I'm getting wet?

My faithful (though rather uncomfortable) steed.  The seat was too low and pointed weirdly up at the front so I kept sliiiiiiding off the back.....

And here we are in the gardens.  Linnea for a day.

They are, as you might imagine, lovely.

A side view of his house, I had always imagined something rather more square, but it is a long narrow house the long side running along the road.....

THE lily pond, with THE Japonese bridge at the end of it.

Even on a grey day, you can see where he got his ideas from....like photographing an idea.

Imagine landscaping on a tree scale, amazing, no?

The rowing boat(s), they had two....

The frogs were beyond happy.  I even took a little video which you can watch and listen to here

back at the house

there were chickens!  Damp chickens who were kind of unexcited about being so damp....

Then I went for a walk as I had time to spare before my return train, and I found a lovely trail that lead up onto the ridge above the valley and his house.  There was this horse along the way.

His house is the long pink one kinda in the middle.

A pretty path, no?

This was at the top and I would bet money this is where he painted some of those pictures of women lounging in the long grass or walking through long grass with an umbrella and the wind...it was a lovely place.

On the way back down this fellow came over to investigate me, though he was quite shy and started away from my offering of grass.  By now the few bits of me that had still been dry, like my feet, weren't.

In the train, trying to steam a little drier and glad the rain is on the outside of the glass

A barge working its way downstream

And the tower again, in the rain this time.

More to come!