This morning, I joined my Rick Steves Europe group visiting Notre Dame Cathedral and nearby Sainte-Chapelle. Notre Dame has re-opened after its reconstruction following the 2019 fire. We did not go inside, for the crowds were huge. Still, the exterior is very impressive! Then we visited Sainte-Chapelle, with its famous windows. As with most French Catholic cathedrals, there are reliefs of what happens to those who follow the 10 Commandments, and those who don’t.
This day I had tickets for the D’Orsay Museum, housing the largest collection of Impressionist paintings. So I departed the group and walked up the Rive Gauche towards the museum. The Rive Gauche is famous for its being a beehive of artistic creativity. Artists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse held lively conversations with writers like Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway and Jean-Paul Sartre. Once past the Notre Dame throng, this walk became a stroll, allowing for people watching and taking in the scenery. One of the most ornate dinner cruise barges chugged by. Adorned end-to-end with art deco. On its bow, a feather-headed woman stood on one foot peering ahead. Its fancy anchor.
For several blocks, the sidewalk is lined with stalls selling all sorts of things, including questionably “authentic” old magazines and cliche Paris images. All for the fun I say!
Like my previous walks, I glimpsed the relaxed bicycle pace. The live-aboard barges plying the Seine. Cafe after cafe with Parisians at their sidewalk tables enjoying casual conversation. It was getting towards mid-day, and I had just enough time for lunch. So, I picked out a cafe table and ordered a Croque Monsieur. I indicated to the server that instead of a leisurely lunch, I needed it quickly so I could make my 1:00 D’Orsay Museum time. He wondered if I wouldn’t enjoy my meal? I just said no, I had to eat and dash. Typical American, no?
I wasn’t too enamored with my meal, in fact! Just not for me.
Topped up, I headed up to the museum. The D’Orsay Museum is a repurposed railroad station. So, on the inside, it is very open and airy. I think it is just fabulous. It has collections from various artistic genres. Passing through, I admired some before entering the Impressionist collection at the far end.
I was introduced to Impressionism by one of my French Language teachers. From there, I checked out some library books on Impressionism. I’d seen a number of original works in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., and London. I have prints of two of Pierre Auguste Renoir’s paintings in my office. So with this, combined with the fact that I’d just been to the Opera Garnier two days prior, held me in rapt anticipation. I did not realize, until I saw some of these paintings, how important it was I’d seen the Opera Garnier first. For some of these very masterpieces depicted events at the Opera!
Entering the collection, I immediately recognized paintings I’d studied. What I was unprepared for was that there were SO many! And I could walk right up and examine every brush stroke. I was so overwhelmed I teared up several times, as one masterpiece after the other revealed themselves. The thing about Impressionism that is so meaningful to me is that these are illustrations of ordinary life in a specific time period in a specific country. They capture the style, the joy, the intimate details of the lives of French in the late 19th Century. Everything from picnics, to dancing, to walking a field, to sunset on a cathedral, to collecting flowers in a field. Some of the paintings are so iconic that they could be said to represent the entire genre all by themselves. These three depict life at the Palais Garnier.
Works by Pierre Auguste Renoir were prominently shown. I love Renoir, because his efforts candidly display Parisians enjoying life. Dancing, socializing, or simply learning to play a musical instrument.
The museum has thoughfully prepared a background for Bal du Moulin de La Galette. And who does not love Vincent Van Gogh! No introduction needed. Just look at these!
More information on “Starry Night” by the Museum. It’s really interesting!
And do you think I’m done here? Oh no. Now here comes Monet. With I think, for me, the absolute most iconic Impressionist paining of all. The humbly titled “Woman with a Parasol Left Side.”
What sets this image apart is not only the beautiful day and the style, but the perspective. It is from the ground up. Making this woman, with the sun shining through her parasol and the breeze blowing her dress and scarf, stand so high in the way it shows off the times in which it was painted.
I had to take a selfie with it!
Lastly one of my favorite painters who was of the “pointilists” wing of the Impressionists.
I’ve always enjoyed the works by Georges Seurat.
In the D’Orsay Museum, they have one of his iconic paintings, “Circus Side Show.” The Pointilists were known for how they rendered images. They used single “points” of paint, thousands of them, like pixels on a video screen, to make an image. Up close you see just dots. Stand back and the image comes to life.
After viewing all this I was pretty taken aback. Wow. I returned to the hotel to take a nap, for my day was far from done. I had dinner with a friend from college, Jeff Russell! We had not seen each other in decades. So much to cover! It could have taken three such dinners! It was great to see him!
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