The opposite of a Still Life

Barney made eggs and cooked some French jambon for breakfast today. Then he went shopping all by himself to get some items - successfully - and we hung up laundry so it would dry by the time we need to pack.

Catherine came over about 11:00am to see the place, really liked it, and we decided to go to see the exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre Musuem (one of our favorites) of the collection of Alicia Koplowitz, a Spanish businesswoman, which turned out to be stunning. Our favorites were the Louise Bourgeois spider sculpture and the still life by Van Gogh, which was vibrating with life and energy, the opposite of a still life. How did he put so much vibrancy into a painting in two dimensions, of a vase and flowers? In the mansion itself, the Tieopolo stairway fresco is also a favorite, and for the first time I noticed the greyhound in the fresco, so sent it to our friend Linda who has Opus the greyhound. We also liked the self-portrait of Nellie Jacquemart, so lively and curious. We took Catherine to lunch in the cafe, which was originally the dining room that seated 32 people, surrounded by a set of beautiful tapestries of the life of Achilles.

Back to Daguerre, we met Anne Godon (who was shopping for a dinner with friends, at the grocery nearby) and went back to the apartment so she could see it. We had some tea and cookies, talked about Anne's upcoming travels to South America, and Catherine's upcoming travel plans, as well as her experiences in Cuba. I wish we could have gone with her on that trip, it sounded fascinating.

Barney was tired, so he took a late afternoon nap while I caught up on email and news. I went down to the boucherie to get a roast chicken and some ratatouille for a quick delicious dinner. Today is the Nuit de la Musée, when almost all the musuems in Paris were open until midnight for free, so we decided to go to the Petit Palais to see the "Watteau to David" exhibit. There was a line when we arrived, but not too long, and the exhibit was lovely. We both really liked the sanguine drawings, the red chalk commonly used by sculptors drawing ideas for their works, or sometimes just doing drawings because they could. And did they ... beautiful detailed down to the hair, sometimes with dozens of figures in each drawing, as well as luminous paintings of Watteau, Boucher, and Fragonard, the princes of the the era of beauty and tranquility in painting. Toward the end, you could see the start of the transition to the world of David and Gericault, more expressionistic and emotion-filled. After this, we explored their rest of the musuem, enjoying he inner courtyard and the large formate painting, including one of Les Halles that seemed drawn directly from Zola's "The Belly of Paris." The Petit Palais and the Grand Palais were both packed, and still had line when we left at 10:30pm. Parisians love their musuems.  Back to rue Daguerre and some quick notes, as tomorrow we pack and leave for Normandy.