Day 10: Moon River and Abstract Art, yes PLEASE!

An exploration of the Marais was in order. The "Avant-Garde" was the presiding theme, putting the day into context. The Picasso Museum was closed. For another day. The Museum of European Photography was also closed. Also for another day. So a hot walk to the Centre Pompidou it was where I would spend the majority of my day. Of course, summer would come right when I buy a snazzy, Parisian-esq jacket. Murphy's law applies to the world of fashion too, exhibit A. Oh well, I wore it anyway of course.

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I can thank Imparfaite for this wonderful piece of vintage that elevated my outfit to the perfect French-y-ness. Sweaty but snazzy.

40 minutes to the Centre Pompidou and I immediately sat down in the shade, admiring the strangeness of the building itself. It is as if the building put its clothes on inside out and I was looking at all its tags and seams that are normally hidden from sight. The building that looks like a child's factory (red, blue, and green) is instead full of modern and contemporary art. A little time to kill, I watched as painters sat on a huge metal structure that was hugging the side of a building as they painted a new mural high up in the air.

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As I walked around the exterior of the museum, a lady commented to her friend about my Canter's Los Angeles t-shirt. It made me smile inside (a lady had also commented on this t-shirt in Harvard yard; it's an institution; get the latkes they are to die for). Walking back towards the museum, I get handed free chips. Yummm here is my lunch *cough college student cough*

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The first exhibition and one that was required was that of Dora Maar, an avant-garde artist/photographer that photographed impoverished regions after WWI (e.g. Barcelona) and the female body. She was also a talented figure in the new and growing art (and disturbing capacities) of collage. In her lifetime, she was close friends with Picasso and documented his making of Guernica.

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Then I walked into another exhibition of abstract and colorful art by Bernard Frize, who said he created art to avoid laziness, experimenting with strange mediums to create unusual patterns. As I sat down to admire "Wig," Moon River started playing softly and I began thinking of you, Nic.

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Then, I took a little repose by the fountain before making my way to Reid Hall. Sitting next to me was this couple full on sucking each other's faces off...oh, love, this is Paris after all.

The 40 minute walk to class was purposeful and almost familiar as the streets were becoming more like a home (because I have been walking everywhere). Is it too soon to say that I am feeling like a Parisian?

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A walk through the Jardins de Luxembourg continues to solidify how much I love them. Someone take me on a picnic there and you have my heart. Away from the tourists, finding the warmth in the green shade of a hot afternoon day.

My "long espresso" and class, I enjoyed the discussion of Ionesco's La Leçon and am looking forward to the play tomorrow night.