Day 2: The Impressionists' Paris
Following café and croissants, we'll wander the colorful Montmartre neighborhood, one-time home to many Impressionist artists. This afternoon we'll visit the world's greatest Impressionist collection at the Musée d'Orsay. After an orientation, you'll have ample time to enjoy the art on your own. Late afternoon options include the nearby Rodin Museum or Les Invalides, site of Napoleon's tomb and France's best military museum.
Again we headed out to the metro and surfaced at the erotic Pigalle where Rolinka sang us a German rendition of a war song, long forgotten and with good reason. Perched on a high hill north of the city centre, Montmartre remains a contained sullied throwback to a bygone era, with winding streets, ivy-clad houses with gardens, and artists' studios remaining just as you imagine they always were. We breezed past the sexshops of Pigalle
(named after the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Pigalle )to the Montmartre eternal village. Pigalle a seedy part of town still is a must see for entertainment.
We briefly explored the campy Moulin Rouge and started up the hill to the historic cultural part past
the local smelly fish market, inviting bakery and butcher shop . Though it was a sacred hill from the Roman Temples period to the Abbey of Montmartre and the political tone of Henri the IV, Montmartre preserved its cultural and artistic identity by offering a home to the greatest painting movements of the XIX and XX centuries (Impressionnism, Cubism, Fauvism, Futurism, Surrealism). We discovered the only 2 remaining
windmills.These are the only two windmills left on the hill which was once literally covered with them. The Moulin de la Galette is on the Rue Lepic which was a central and crucial street to Montmarte, as it still is.
We walked along the route in the movie Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain) I have to admit I thanked God we stopped for frequent rest periods as we ascended
further up the steeper and steeper hills. We took a breather by the famous Bateau Lavoir home to Picasso Renoire Modigliani and Toulouse-Lautrec. We continued through the playground where Renoir painted his famous Le Moulin de la Galette. Rolinka pointed out where she lives and we continued our ascent to where St. Denis founded Montemarte ending up by the Clos Montmartre Vinyard that boasts sales of enormous amounts of money for poor quality wine.After a harrowing morning we ate a quick lunch to fortify our body and spirits we checked out the PLACE DU TERTRE before we continued onto Sacre Coeur.
We walked silently through the church of brilliant mosacis, descended to the bottom of the butte(the furnicular is an alternative) and headed for the metro which whisked us toward Orsay. BUT not without having to
evacuate the metro at the Concord due to some train breakdown. However it worked out well, nice day good company great walking weather on flat land through the Tuilleries inhabited with kids and lunchers. Over the footbridge we followed the yellow brick road to the Orsay, a converted railroad station flooded with natural light. Notes on Art and Art History
I have never used the Museum Pass before but I am now a fan of it, we breezed into the museum and book in hand were off to explore the museum the way we saw fit. I've been to the Orsay several times before and thought I could cut it short to hop a bus to Pere Lachaise Cemetery, which I did on Bus 69. Big mistake too little time.
I hoped the bus with 3 other tour members and we realized it would be a slow ride to hell at that hour of the day, every Parisian in Paris was on the bus. We made it to the Cemetery by dusk and just about made it Jim Morrisons grave past so many other interesting ones. I was disappointed not to see more. The one thing that amused us was what the teenage boy who sat next to Tamara said to his friends "Crazy Americans coming to Paris to see dead people".
That night Rolinka had a wine instruction and tasting ceremony for us complete with 5 wines from the various regions of the country, baguettes and cheese from the accompanying areas. My favorite was Gewurztraminer from Alsace (Gewûrz means "spicy" in German). It was a highlight of the trip. And, to add even more to the evening Antoine, a friend of Rolinka's showed up for a lively political exchange about the EU.
