Friday, October 1, 2010

Au Revoir to Paris - On to Biking in Greece

We had a full but mellow day, our last full day before heading to CDG-Paris airport tomorrow morning for our flight to Athens.  We actually slept in, which is highly unusual for us!  After breakfast we strolled to the Orangerie, which sits west of the Louvre at the far corner of the Tuileries Garden.

The Orangerie is best know for its Monet installation - eight panels of epic proportions of the Nympheas (Water Lillies), housed in two oval galleries as "surround" murals. They took Monet 7 years to complete, and he did not live to see them installed in the Orangerie.  What a bummer.


(This panel is 2 meters high!)

Truth be told, we were most excited about the galleries of post-impressionist painters, particularly the artist Modigliani, Peter's favorite.  Peter particularly loved this portrait:




Inspired by the greats, Peter decided to take an "art break" and we enjoyed some repose at the east end of the Tuilleries.  Nothing like taking on the Louvre as a sketching subject:




He did a sweet job.

After having my last banana-nutella crepe for lunch (don't gag, they are SO good), we returned to the hotel briefly to enjoy a quick Skype session with Wendell and friends at Dunn Bros. coffee in St. Paul - enjoyed the wonders of Wi-fi and the Internet, saw familiar faces and spaces and felt the warmth of connecting with home! Technology is incredible.

Our last museum was the Cluny - full of wondrous treasures of the Middle Ages, including the famed Unicorn Tapestries.  The museum is actually an old monastery that was built upon the ruins of the Roman Baths that survived through the centuries - amazing place:


(That's me on the right doing a feeble monk imitation at the well)

We closed the place down at 5:45 PM and went back to the hotel for a bit of R & R before dinner...and what a great meal!  The hotel serves wonderful food - Peter had lamb and I had salmon, with wonderful salads and apple tartine for dessert.  I'm approching blimp stage!

So, tomorrow we wing to Athens just in time to save me from eating oblivion - bring on the biking and the Mediterranean diet!  The blog will likely go on short hiatus until Sunday evening - we plan on touring the Parthenon Sunday and the tour group meets for dinner Monday evening - Tuesday we are on the bikes!!!!  Thanks for reading....

1 comment:

  1. I am sooooo jealous!! Look forward to the next installment from the bicycles....

    Best to your septuagenarian friend, Peter.

    DSL

    ReplyDelete