Oh boy were we lucky that the queue was so short when we arrived at the Musée d’Orsay without booking this morning! We went straight to the Manet / Degas exhibition, which was already quite busy. I think it was a good idea to have a “compare and contrast” exhibition of these two artists who were only two years apart in age and came from similar middle class back grounds; neither of them did well academically and their families both finally allowed them to pursue their dreams of being artists. They also knew each other and indulged in various petty quarrels, such as the time that Manet tore up an unflattering depiction of his wife by Degas, and sometimes they would give each other paintings and then send them or take them back in a huff! Manet did some great cat pictures, especially of black cats. Manet’s crowd scenes were better but Degas’ faces were better - sometimes. And of course Degas' ballet dancers and horses were great. Why do impressionist painters often paint scenes with fully clad men and naked women? (as in Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe) It’s like a bawdy Carry On 70s comedy; “Oops my dress fell off!”
We had a pleasant lunch in the museum café and then continued to wander through the different rooms; Monet’s Poppies is just delightful, with a woman and child walking through a meadow with long grass. One of my favourite paintings of all time is Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette, I love its dappled light and sense of capturing a moment in time. For some reason I always think that it’s in the Louvre, and am always surprised to find it in the Musée d’Orsay.
We decided to walk to our Patisserie course in the 8ème so we headed through the Tuileries Gardens and to the Champs-Elysées before turning off towards Rue de Penthièvre. There were fifteen of us on the course and it was great fun; we all worked together, taking turns to practise the different skills, which was a good way to do it, I felt that I learned a lot. The other participants were all French and were friendly, but it was amusing to see who wanted to take charge and were keen to offer advice to others, even though they were no better at the different techniques than anyone else! In a two hour course it didn’t matter but could have been irritating if it had been an ongoing issue.
James was a star at chopping and mixing, he even held the bowls steady so that people of lesser strength could mix more effectively. The teacher called his crème pâtissière “Superbe!” which made me feel very proud.
At the end of the course we went to nearby Parc Monceau, a very busy wee urban park with pony-trekking for children and a merry-go-round. It was nice to see families out enjoying the fine weather on a Sunday afternoon. We bought cups of tea from a kiosk and then ate all of our patisserie: chocolate eclairs, réligieuses (two choux buns on top of each other filled with crème pâtissière) and chouquettes (little choux buns topped with sugar.) We were so full of sugar by the time we had finished!
We walked all the way back to St Germain des Prés along the Champs-Elysées, where we stopped at a shop to get James some lip salve and I couldn’t resist buying a little notebook that says “Mots” on the front (like the Sartre book!) James expressed doubt about me buying a new notebook when I already have so many of them at home, but I swept his concerns aside because it is so very cute. We then crossed the river and walked along the Left Bank back to our hotel. The day was rounded off with drinks at the Café de Paris in the rue de Buci.
We had a pleasant lunch in the museum café and then continued to wander through the different rooms; Monet’s Poppies is just delightful, with a woman and child walking through a meadow with long grass. One of my favourite paintings of all time is Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette, I love its dappled light and sense of capturing a moment in time. For some reason I always think that it’s in the Louvre, and am always surprised to find it in the Musée d’Orsay.
We decided to walk to our Patisserie course in the 8ème so we headed through the Tuileries Gardens and to the Champs-Elysées before turning off towards Rue de Penthièvre. There were fifteen of us on the course and it was great fun; we all worked together, taking turns to practise the different skills, which was a good way to do it, I felt that I learned a lot. The other participants were all French and were friendly, but it was amusing to see who wanted to take charge and were keen to offer advice to others, even though they were no better at the different techniques than anyone else! In a two hour course it didn’t matter but could have been irritating if it had been an ongoing issue.
James was a star at chopping and mixing, he even held the bowls steady so that people of lesser strength could mix more effectively. The teacher called his crème pâtissière “Superbe!” which made me feel very proud.
At the end of the course we went to nearby Parc Monceau, a very busy wee urban park with pony-trekking for children and a merry-go-round. It was nice to see families out enjoying the fine weather on a Sunday afternoon. We bought cups of tea from a kiosk and then ate all of our patisserie: chocolate eclairs, réligieuses (two choux buns on top of each other filled with crème pâtissière) and chouquettes (little choux buns topped with sugar.) We were so full of sugar by the time we had finished!
We walked all the way back to St Germain des Prés along the Champs-Elysées, where we stopped at a shop to get James some lip salve and I couldn’t resist buying a little notebook that says “Mots” on the front (like the Sartre book!) James expressed doubt about me buying a new notebook when I already have so many of them at home, but I swept his concerns aside because it is so very cute. We then crossed the river and walked along the Left Bank back to our hotel. The day was rounded off with drinks at the Café de Paris in the rue de Buci.
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