I woke up at 7:30 so I could be ready to meet at 9:00. I had a wonderful breakfast of the same foods as the day before. Then I went up stairs to get ready for the day. I had changed out of my pajamas for breakfast but now I was going to do my hair and contacts and all the other stuff you do to get ready for the day. Then I met the group at 9am. Instead of taking the metro to the Musee d'Orsay we walked. Oh and what a walk. It was about an hour and a half altogether. We stopped at the Eiffel tower to take pictures. We took a group picture and individual pictures. After our little break we stopped at the green wall of another museum, Musee du quai Branly. It was designed by Jean Nouvel. We also got to see some cool details while we walked. On one wall there was iron work that made it look like you could walk into the wall. The building by it was full of Art Nouveau details. The railings and the door way were classic Art Nouveau style. It was interesting because Darrin thought it was a different style but we all were saying Nouveau and then he read a plaque by the door and we were right! Finally after a long walk we arrived at the Musee d'Orsay. It used to be a train depot and was converted into an art museum. I absolutely loved it. It was small but full of amazing works. In the center of it was a large space full of statues. I wasn't that interested in those as I had seen many before from other museums. I went straight for the paintings. There were a ton of Monet and Degas. I saw many of the famous paintings. The ballet dancers by Degas and the lily pad painting of Monets. I am so lucky and it was wonderful to see them in person. This was one museum I didn't get to do when I was in Paris last time. I continued to walk around and then I saw a Mary Cassatt piece! She is my favorite artist! I adore almost all of her paintings. It was one of her many paintings of a woman. This was an older woman. And I recognized her style immediately. Getting to see her work in person was one of the highlights of the trip. Madi and I bumped into each other and so we viewed a lot of the rest of the museum together. After seeing Mary Cassatt's piece we went to the other side of the statues where a ton of Van Gogh paintings were. We saw the sunflowers and his famous self portrait. To see someone's works who maybe the most famous artist ever is impressive. It is one of those things that radiates into you and changes who you are a little. It certainly makes me look at how lucky I am. This museum was one of my favorites. It was a unique setting and full of amazing works that I could only imagine seeing in real life until now. After Van Gogh's works we went up stairs to see the rest of the museum. Upstairs we saw more amazing paintings. In one room there was a girl painting a painting. She had a big easel and her oil paint all ready. She wasn't doing a direct copy. She changed the painting slightly in the coloring and in the way one man looked. In the painting he was very old and in her rendition he was younger. It was really impressive and made me want to have that ability. Plus it was cool that a museum would let her do that. After that there were rooms full of Art Nouveau furniture and other works. We saw Lalique's vases and jewelry. He is a really interesting guy. A lot of his work was influenced by insects. As I have said before I loved looking at the work and knowing who designed it. We also saw Bugatti, Galle, Guimard, and many others. Anyone who was prominent in that time we saw. There was one room that you could walk into and it was designed in the Art Nouveau style and you got to experience it! It was really a treat. It got you in the mind set of the time period. There was a lot of furniture that I recognized too. The desk with the flying branches that would then hold a light or a vase. An armor that was in the style but I hadn't seen in lecture. It was great to recognize the style and know it. Madi was really excited for this exhibit. It is one of her favorite styles so she really enjoyed seeing all the items on display. After this section of the museum Madi and I went our separate ways and I went back to see some of the art I missed before because I wanted to avoid the tour groups. I really didn't want to leave the museum. I loved everything and how it was laid out. I also loved that it was converted from a train station to this wonderful museum. But I bought a book so I will always be able to look back at the art and remember what I experienced. I also got a postcard of my favorite Van Gogh painting, the one of his bedroom. Unfortunately the museum didn't have that painting. After buying those items I went to go have some lunch. I walked down this small street and found a restaurant that did food right to the sidewalk. I got a baguette, eclair, and sparkling water. It was rather cheap and really good food. While I ate lunch I had a nice chat with Phil. We also watched some street venders and musicians. It was a nice lunch atmosphere. After lunch Phil and I walked to the meeting spot. After eating we went to catch a train to Villa Savoy.
The trip to Villa Savoy was a crazy long journey. We had to go to three different train stops before we found the correct train that would take us directly there. The ride was rather uneventful. We got off the train and suddenly we couldn't get out of the station. Madi was able to though cause she is so skinny she could fit through the doors. She went and got someone who let us out and then we talked to him. It turned out our metro passes didn’t work this far away from Paris. So we had to buy tickets and buy bus tickets. We got on the bus and soon arrived at Villa Savoy. I had sketched if for my history class so I was really excited to go see it in person and explore the inside of it. It was designed by Le Corbusier and has a white exterior. We made our way in and in the hallway there was a sink. It was really bizarre. After the downstairs we went upstairs. There were two ways of getting there a spiral staircase or a ramp. The first room was really empty except for a bunch of chairs and one chaise lounge. All the furniture was designed by him. Two were the Basculant chairs both different styles, there were two LC Petite Chairs and a LC4 chaise lounge. We all took turns sitting in them. On this floor there was also two bedrooms. One was the master bedroom that had a really cool tub and shower. It had a place where you could lay and dry off. After looking at this room that blended into another room. I’m not sure the purpose of it though. But after these rooms we had to go take a group photo on this ramp that led up to the roof. It was a kind of cool set up and there was a door that led down to the floor I was just on. I went into what I think was the second bedroom. It had wood flooring that was in bad shape. It was interesting that all the bathroom had bidets but no toilet. I then went into the kitchen which was a lot of tile. Most of the flooring was tile. While I was amazed I was a little shocked at how unkempt it was. It was in need or repair. But I guess that is what WWII can do to a place. It was home to two troops during the war. One was the Germans, the other I’m not sure. After walking through the house we got twenty minutes to sketch. I was really getting into the sketch with my Eminem playing. I didn't get to finish sketching because we had to get back to Paris. Unfortunately it turned out that our bus tickets that we thought were two way weren't. Benae talked to the bus driver and we were able to get on the bus and get to the train station. Then we went back on the metro and headed back to our hotel. I had the Chinese for dinner again because I wasn't too hungry. I tried to catch up on blogs, but I couldn't stand how hot it was in the lobby and I soon went to bed because I was exhausted.
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| Foliage wall on the museum |
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| the horse in front of the Musee d'Orsay |
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| Rhino in front of Musee d'Orsay |
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| Elephant in front of Musee d'Orsay |
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| me on the Chaise Lounge |
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| on the ramp up to the roof |
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| Villa Savoy |
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