The frosty tips of Sacre Coeur
Below freezing Paris skyline from Montmartre
The streets of Montmartre
Live Art Festival at Place Montmartre
An old man with a collection of stylized self-portraits
Musee Picasso
Portrait of Gustave Coquiot-Picasso
The Sea at l'Estaque-Picasso
Musee de Moyen Age
Untitled-Pieta
The first Sunday of every month is free museum day in Paris. I decided to take advantage of this and set out on Sunday hoping to visit at least two. I walked down to Musee D'Orsay because the last time that I was there I missed a few rooms and felt a bit rushed. I wanted to take a closer look at the galleries and spend more time in the masterpieces room. Upon arriving I realized that "free entrance" really means "free-for-all." There was a huge line snaking along the sidewalk for several city blocks. If I had had company I may have attempted to wait but standing in line alone is no fun. Strike one, off to the Dali Museum.
The Dali Museum is up in Montmartre so I took the metro and popped out right below it. Unfortunately the Dali Museum is a "Private" Museum and doesn't participate in the free-for-all madness. I didn't feel like paying the 9euros to get in (I want a free museum!) so I turned around and walked towards Sacre Coeur. Strike two. It was a very cold day and there was a thick frosty fog covering the city. It made for a depressingly beautiful view of the Paris skyline. Just underneath Sacre Coeur in a tiny square I came across a throng of people and wiggled my way towards the middle. It was a giant live art festival, free art at last! Artists of all ages, shapes, and styles were perched on stools willy nilly, drawing and painting their little hearts out. Some were drawing portraits of tourists, some painting from their heads, others just sitting and smoking with blank canvases. It was such a treat to see artists working. I loved watching their technique, how they chose colors, interpreted what their eyes saw, etc. It fascinates me to see people creating art, especially when they are as good as some of these men and women were.
After I had my fill I jumped back on the metro towards Le Marais and the Picasso Museum. I enjoyed a line-free zero euro entrance and spent a good long time in there, wandering around at my own pace, stopping to look closer when I pleased. I was impressed to see how well Picasso could "actually" paint. By actually paint I mean that he was also very good at painting photo-realistically. I just hadn't been exposed to a lot of Picasso and was surprised that he was incredibly talented at not only painting different styles but sculpting as well. I love the expression on Gustave Coquiot's face, he is having an excellent time! The Sea at l'Estaque has such a mood to it that I really want to go and see it for myself.
After finishing with the Picasso Museum I headed back to my apartment and got Uri to come with me to the Musee de Moyen Age. I'm not totally sure that the Middle Ages are my favortie. I really enjoyed the old Bibles and a lot of the religious paintings, but there was also a lot of stone and tons of tapestries. I am amazed at the amount of work that it must take to make a tapestry but I just didn't get these ones.
So, hang up the "Mission Accomplished" banner on the aircraft carrier. After two early strikes it was looking dismal but I did it. I got into two Museums for free, saw some live art, and took in a spectacular view of a winterclad Paris.
