Out of Paris

October 28, 2018 Day 6

I was surprised by the time change, a weekend earlier than in the US. Fall back, so we gained an hour and rather than being late we were early for the brunch at the house where the daughter and grandchildren were staying. Friends of the daughter had done a home exchange for this house in Paris and that is where the daughter and granddaughters were staying. It is in an neighborhood of Paris which has very few single family homes and the estimated value is about 4 million euros. Nicely done, but a very small kitchen and three medium sized bedrooms. But it has a circular dining room, two balconies and a finished basement which I was told is the grandparents suite. The owners are a French American couple with two kids. As seems to be common in my anecdotal experiences, in most of these relationships the woman is the immigrant.

It was a lengthy brunch attended mainly by acquaintances of the friend of the daughter. One couple was a French diplomat serving a domestic posting on the West African desk. Her trailing American husband said it was difficult finding a position as his experience was that even when he was well qualified for a job, the firms definitely preferred to hire French. They have a nice little kid.

I took a nap in the mid afternoon and then we walked back to the hotel to pick up our luggage. Took a cab to the train station, Gard Austerlitz. The cabbie did a very good job weaving through crowded Paris traffic to get us to the train station on time. We had to walk the entire length of a 16 car train to get to our assigned coach where we again met the daughter and granddaughters.  It was the "slow" (not the TGV) train for our trip to Amboise. We changed trains in Orleans and arrived in Amboise in the rain and dark.  Drove our to the country house for a welcome dinner and then sleep in the bungalow.

Museum of Immigration

Saturday October 27, 2018 Day 5

We ate breakfast at the hotel. It was a very nice and extensive buffet. Good hot chocolate, but no bagels. Expensive, but good enough to keep us going into the afternoon. We arrived when there was only one other diner, but when we left it was full.

We took off for western Paris on the Metro.  One transfer and a 25 minute ride. I had read an article in the International NY Times by a writer who walked around the exterior of Paris. One of his recommendations was the Museum of Immigration. Off the beaten path and not crowded. Walking from the Metro exit to the museum we saw a much different Paris that in the downtown area. Less affluent, fewer tourists and not as many restaurants. Plus there was a street level light rail line that is not mentioned in the guidebooks.

The building that houses the museum was build in 1931 as part of an exposition celebrating the French empire. Overshadowed perhaps by the British empire, the French empire was also extensive with large holdings in West and North Africa and Southeast Asia, as well as lesser outposts in the Middle East and the West Indies. The exposition, seemingly similar to a world's fair, had exhibits from most of the parts of the empire, (I did not see anything from Syria or Lebanon) as well as several countries, including the US.  However, along with a large sculpture across the street, the art deco exhibition hall was the only permanent structure. The exposition seemed to celebrate France's role as a protector and civilizer of the colonies while at the same time taking for granted the colonies' contribution to French wealth and culture. It was almost as if the latter was treated as an entitlement, provided in exchange for former. I got a hint of that in some of the historical museums I visited in the Netherlands last year and I imagine similar  feelings about colonialism existed in Great Britain, Portugal, Spain etc.

The entry fee for the museum is 6 euro. (nowhere in France have I found discounts for seniors.) There is an aquarium in the building's basement but we chose not to go there or pay the separate entrance fee.

The building has gone through several changes in use since the exposition and has been dedicated to its present use since 2007. Virtually all of the art from the now former colonies has been transferred to the Musee Du Quai Branly (we visited that a few years ago). This museum is more of a historical record of the building, the exposition, immigration to France and the impact of immigration on France. Although I had a very general awareness that France, particularly since its Revolution had been a haven for political refugees and dissidents, I had no knowledge that for centuries it had taken in large numbers of immigrants, in recent decades sometimes exceeding over 3 million a year. That at times has exceeded the number of immigrants absorbed by the US and represents by far a greater percentage of the population. The mix of immigrants has changed from eastern European, to southeast Asia, (Ho Chi Minh was educated and lived in Paris in the 1920s.) to north African and now increasingly sub Saharan Africa. That is evident from the faces that one sees in Paris, particularly in the many service and hospitality jobs. We witnessed a performance art performance on the main floor from an upper floor.

After several hours we departed. We took the Metro, again one transfer, to meet the granddaughters  (minus one who opted for a friend) and daughter, as well as a step grandson on the Champs Elysees. The former were coming from a hop-on hop-off bus tour and the latter from work. All were late as we waited outside the designated restaurant, really a pricey pastry shop. When we finally connected we went up the street to Le Drugstore for coffee and hot chocolate. It seems so frivolous paying very high prices for these drinks just so you can sit in a fancy place on a fancy street, but I imagine it is what many tourists do.

With the granddaughters we went to a movie on the Champs Elysees and saw A Star is Born in English. Apparently many movies are shown in France in English without subtitles. Better than I expected and two very good performances. Then we walked for a bit and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. We then dropped the girls off at the house and walked back to our hotel.

Outside the Museum

     

Musee d Orsay

October 26, 2018 Day 4

The grandkids were off to the Comi Con convention so we went to the Musee d Orsay. This is a top site in Paris that I have never been to. We took the Metro. There was one transfer that required a very long walk underground.

Exiting the Metro we ate at a small sandwich shop near the Seine. Good sandwich and moderate prices.

We did not purchase tickets online as recommended, so we waited for tickets in a long line  that moved very quickly. 12 euro entrance fee. Then we waited to pass through security. Understandably, security is very extensive at all these attractions in France.

The museum is housed in a former railway station, Gare d Orsay, that was built in 1900 for a World's Fair and also housed a luxury hotel and grand reception room. It was taken out of service in 1977 and reopened as a museum in 1986. It is a beautiful building.

The museum houses France's national collection paintings from the impressionist, postimpressionist and art-nouveau movements from the 2d republic, 1848, to the start of WWI, 1914.

There is a lot of art in this museum. We focused on an exhibit that was curated by Julius Schnabel, an American artist/filmmaker, who was matching up his works with works from the museum's collection "to create a conversation across space and time." It worked better than I anticipated. The self portrait of Van Gogh stood alone. We also toured several furniture exhibits, but did not see anything that inspired us for our ongoing renovation in SLC.   There was also lots of sculpture. I got tired and we missed a lot.

After a few hours we exhibited the museum.  In the small square outside the museum there was a street band playing. It was pretty good and soon after it began playing an older woman began to slowly dance in front. I could not tell if she was just a bystander who was inspired by the music or connected to the band. I had a vision that she was the mother of one of the musicians.

We then went to into the Legion of Honor Museum on the opposite side of the square. Lots of metals, weapons and uniforms there, but not much of interest. We left after a brief visit and returned to the hotel by Metro. My spouse stopped off at a patisserie while I went back to the room for an afternoon nap. She felt that she was mistreated there by staff and customers, so she ate my pastry.

We then walked over to the house through a big rainstorm (Practice for Tanzania.) where the kids are staying. The daughter is going out with friends so we are babysitting the grand kids. We made personal pizzas for dinner and watched a superheroes movie. Batman and Superman got together and with the help of some other superheroes defeated a10 ft. tall villain who was seeking to destroy earth, or at least the city, by joining together three cubes. I was not paying close attention, but I did notice that the villain had lots of flying assistants who looked a lot like the characters in the Wizard of Oz. We stayed late after the host returned drinking wine into the a.m. hours. More messed up sleep after we walked back to the hotel through the empty, wet streets of Paris. I imagined that I was in a Woody Allen movie, but a car did not pull up to take us on a time travel adventure.

Van Gogh self portrait

 Metro sign entrance

 Museum d Orsay

Dancing lady