What a beautiful day it was today!

Today was the first day it was sunny and the day really does seem brighter with a little vitamin D.

I didn’t really comment on the layout of the Italian cities, but Rome was hella confusing. I’m pretty sure they let Harold (with his purple crayon) design the streets. Florence made a little more sense, and Venice (other than being half underwater) was easy. Paris is super easy, although after seeing the drivers (eek!) I would avoid the roads at all cost. At the end of our road is a huge open circle and it is basically the intersection of 6 roads. Think of it like a K’Nex circle with all of these spokes coming out from it. Got it? Anyway, at any given time there will be two lanes trying to turn left, but with so many options to turn left there ends up being (at least to me) mass confusion. The lesson here is to appreciate roundabouts. Or roundabounds as Dad’s GPS liked to call them.

Anyways. We went early to the Musee D’Orsay (yay for being open!) and it was the quietest building we had been in, including the churches! It didn’t last long (hello high school field trips), but while it did it was nice to appreciate the art in silence. The building is so unique and a welcome architectural change. A renovated train station, the M’O as they call it here, is home to some of the most famous Impressionist art created by Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and my personal (new) favorite Sisley.

Unfortunately, they don’t allow pictures so for this portion of the blog I’d like you to Google Musee D’Orsay and follow along. Kidding. Teacher Erin just couldn’t help herself. Side note, the museum specifically (okay not specifically but if you read between the lines) says they don’t allow photography because of selfies. Really they say there was an increase in photos taken “at arms length”. So #selfie.

It actually was more pleasant so maybe they’re on to something.

Alison read that upon arrival we should head straight to the fifth floor which is the where the majority of the Impressionist art is. It was literal perfection. I loved every single piece. I think we spent at least an hour and a half on that floor alone. One of the better decisions we have had in awhile was getting the audio guide. Most of the time (unless it’s free) we take the chance their will be descriptions in English. I learned so much and not just about the individual artists, but about the movement.

Al and I had a lengthy discussion on how (and when) a generation reaches a point where they forget they were once the young artists-revolutionaries-authors-actors-politicians with new ideas and new philosophies. What makes new ideas “wrong” and why are we (as a society) so blind to the repetition of this cycle? Every generation has new ideas on how to change and instead of saying “You can’t reinvent the wheel.” Let’s say “how can we improve it?” I mean personally I think we all enjoy our high tech rubber wheels, but if you prefer we can go back to stone. Right?

Anyways. Art.

The Impressionists tried to submit their art to the Salon, but the Academy said their work was “unfinished” or “simply sketches”. So they hosted their own show with the help of benefactors, some of whom were artists themselves. They focused on the landscape and the fleeting moments in time. My favorites were Sisley, Monet, and Degas’ ballet dancers. Please take five minutes and go check them out.

If you have read this far, I have a question for you. You don’t need to tell me, but you can if you want to! In fact, go talk to someone else about this and then come tell me both your answers. The more the merrier.

After spending an intense amount of time around art the last few weeks I find myself with a deep desire to create. Especially after today.

My question is this, what inspires you to create?

For me it’s seeing colors and how they blend or contrast. How an artist chooses to use colors to create lines or patterns. I’m not usually into sketching but the whole time today my fingers itched to put pen to paper.

This post has become more introspective then originally planned. Hmm. Back to the story.

After we left we were both quite hungry. The best thing about Rome was anywhere you looked you could get a drink and pizza for less than 5€. Here? Not so much.

Before we could find food we reached the Rodin Museum. It’s really a huge garden with a tiny museum attached. Today was the perfect day to wander gardens and admire some sculptures. Here are some pictures.

While I’m thinking about it I have another question.

Do you think you are creative? Not that you are “good” at being creative, but are you capable of being creative. Just a thought.

P.S. I’ll tell you my answer tomorrow. I want totally unbiased answers.

After the Rodin Gardens we walked back across the river to the Musee de L’Orangerie. This museum is a partner museum to Musee D’Orsay and has similar artists although some of their lesser known works. Actually that’s not true for Claude Monet. There are two large circular rooms which have his Waterlilies or Les Nympheas on display. The canvases circumvent nearly the whole room and show Monet’s skill in creating depth and space on a flat surface. There were benches in the center of the room which brought you at eye level with the center of the paintings. I could easily imagine I was sitting on a bench on the edge of the pond and get lost imagining the wind in the willows and the occasional croak of a frog in the distance. I think having art that can transport you to another place is wonderful. Having only the sense of sight provided forces you to imagine what the others would be and (at least for me) reminded me of all the times I have truly focused on my surroundings. Not surprisingly a number of such moments happened around water. Helps when you live near a spectacular river.

After a fulfilling day of both art and discussion we headed to the grocery to pick up dinner. Tonight’s entertainment consisted of Friends, and SWAT 2, which was set in Detroit. But REALLY, REALLY awful. Don’t watch it. Even if you find yourself in Paris and it’s the only thing in English.

Tomorrow we are going to Fontainebleau. It has a palace similar to Versailles and a National Forest. Fingers crossed the weather is as nice tomorrow.