Hello art lovers - this weekend we made a trip to the d'Orsay, home of fantastic impressionist works by all my favorites. Gauguin, van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir... the list goes on. And, because I have been once before and taken many pictures, I mostly just looked this time. Very nice. We had a nice lunch in the museum cafe, and wandered until closing time. Although the entrance line was not too large, the crowd inside was! There was an interesting exhibit of Max Ernst work called "A week of kindness" which displayed a few hundred very bizarre inkings (not exactly reflecting the theme). It seems like he was an illustrator of books or political satire in his time (which was during the rise of fascism and Nazism). I must check him out a bit.
On Sunday, we had a special treat. We learned that Rev. Jesse Jackson would preach at the American Church in Paris. Evidently, he is on his way to Uganda, and spending the day in Paris before continuing there. We arrived early and got some good seats. I was quite excited to hear him, and he lived up to my hopes. His sermon started a bit quietly and built to a strong message - basically that peace and dreamers of peace always face a tough challenge, but that it can be achieved. Hard to believe that I was about 50 feet away from someone who has run for President, marched with Martin Luther King, and been an iconic public figure for about 30 years. And even got to hear a sermon and shake his hand! Can't say I agree with everything, but still pretty impressive to me!
After church, we wandered to the Eiffel Tower. It may be August in Paris, and the Parisians may be gone on holiday, but there is no shortages of tourists. The tower was quite busy, as was Notre Dame and our area on the way home. We stopped in the Rodin Museum Garden (only costs a Euro for the Jardin and the best stuff is all out there anyway - the Thinker and Gate to Hell). We spent an hour or so in the garden - too bad that is not nearby our apartment, it would be a very pleasant place to hang out. Then we took a couple metro lines to the Sorbonne area and walked over to the Pantheon to a pub we previously discovered (the Bombardier). The objective was British Sunday roast beef dinner. I was not disappointed - Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, beef and gravy. The added carrots and broccoli were just bonuses. We left just as the place began to fill for a Chelsea vs Man-U football match. A good day!
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