Patti Lynn Clark Barnett

The Orsay and Orangerie Museums are the homes of my favorite group of artists, the Impressionists: Renoir, Monet, Manet, Cezanne and others. The impressionists', seemingly, carelessly, splattered and splashed canvases made it easy to understand why the established artists of the 19th century were outraged, shocked and insulted. They wanted to ride these, "No talent, messy, lazy dabblers" out of town on a rail. Such departure from the laboriously detailed realism to which they had devoted their lives was a disgrace to the name of art. You can’t get any more wrong than that. This is a picture taken through the back of one of the two large clocks in The Orasy Museum. The view is north across the Seine.

Of course these museums house art of other styles and periods. It is difficult to take your eyes away from the beauty of "The Birth of Venus" painted by Alexander Cabanel in 1863. The same can be said for numerous other works, for sure.

 The panels of Monet's water lilies, at the Orangerie, I must admit, were disappointing. They, like the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre were much easier to appreciate in reproductions. The “Mona Lisa” is quite small, behind glass and roped off so that you can only get within about 10 feet. And then there was a huge crowd. This is far from an ideal environment for experiencing great art!

If your levels of creativity are waning, these visits will get you going again…or nothing will.

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, "Le Dance"

The Orsay and Orangerie Museums are the homes of my favorite group of artists, the Impressionists: Renoir, Monet, Manet, Cezanne and others. The impressionists', seemingly, carelessly, splattered and splashed canvases made it easy to understand why the established artists of the 19th century were outraged, shocked and insulted. They wanted to ride these, "No talent, messy, lazy dabblers" out of town on a rail. Such departure from the laboriously detailed realism to which they had devoted their lives was a disgrace to the name of art. You can’t get any more wrong than that. This is a picture taken through the back of one of the two large clocks in The Orasy Museum. The view is north across the Seine.

Of course these museums house art of other styles and periods. It is difficult to take your eyes away from the beauty of "The Birth of Venus" painted by Alexander Cabanel in 1863. The same can be said for numerous other works, for sure.

The panels of Monet's water lilies, at the Orangerie, I must admit, were disappointing. They, like the "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre were much easier to appreciate in reproductions. The “Mona Lisa” is quite small, behind glass and roped off so that you can only get within about 10 feet. And then there was a huge crowd. This is far from an ideal environment for experiencing great art!

I

f your levels of creativity are waning, these visits will get you going again…or nothing will.

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, "Le Dance"

The Rodin Museum is a few blocks from where we stayed in the Rue Cler neighborhood. The museum is housed in the mansion home of Rodin and contains a huge number of his indescribably magnificent works. This was the last museum we visited and after seeing the others, I thought the awe factor would have leveled out. The Louvre overwhelmed me but Rodin's works left me silent.

The only two works I was familiar with enough to name were, "The Kiss" and "The Thinker". Both are here. In my estimation, neither comes close in beauty and emotion to some of his lesser known works.

My husband was especially impressed with “La Cathedral”. This sculpture is of two right hands entwined in a right-handed helix. He thought it was the perfect artistic representation of the double-stranded short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) molecules which he and his colleagues are trying to develop as therapeutics.

There is a section devoted to Camille Claudel, his young student /muse, inspiration who became his mistress. After Rodin left her, she wound up in a mental institution where she died. Her works were good but there is no question who was the master and who was the student.

If you visit this museum, don’t miss the gardens. They are very well designed and serve as a wonderful backdrop for some of Rodin’s largest pieces like “The Thinker”, “The Burghers of Calais” and “The Gates of Hell”. The garden is a great mix of large trees, formal grassy areas, a formal round pond and winding paths. There is an outdoor café where you can sit and reflect on what you have just seen.

We did Paris according to Rick Steves' recommendations in his guide book, "Rick Steves' Paris 2007". I would highly recommend the guide to anyone visiting Paris. We took Rick's advice and stayed among the locals in the Rue Cler neighborhood. Here, the many sidewalk cafes, open air markets, flower, candy, pastry, cheese, shops and etc. provided a close up view, feel and flavor of the Parisians' life. This location is within walking distance of the Eiffel Tower, major museums, the Avenue Des Champs-Elysees and many other points of interest.

Rick Steves Paris 2007 and Natasha
 
Rue Cler looking south from the Rue de Champ de Mars

We arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport about 9:00 Sunday morning after flying all night and took a cab to the hotel and dropped off our bags. A short walk took us to the American Church in Paris near the Seine where we attended Sunday morning services.  The church is celebrating a 150 years in srvice. The large edifice was filled with, “A rainbow of races and a symphony of languages" as the pastor put it. Such a large and diverse mixture of beautiful humanity gathered to worship was both surprising and encouraging. Soloist, Sue Wilson, sang "Beulah Land" an old hymn I hadn't heard since childhood days at my little country church in the wildwood, Chestnut Grove. Sue did not need a sound system. She belted out that song with such a powerful voice it seemed the rafters shook. It was an amazingly moving and wonderful rendition. The whole experience was uplifting.